Mecha Ninja
by Shadowauthor7
Summary: Naruto finds himself lost in a world with Ed and Alphonse, and needs to remember what happened and how to get home.
1. The Beginning

Naruto awoke as the morning sun poked through the open window. The warmth absorbed into his face as he got up slowly. He was in a strange room he didn't recognize. Not like the ones back home in The Hidden Leaf Village. He got out of bed quickly and checked his supply of shurikens. They were still present. His kunai knife was still attached to his belt, so that was good.

He slipped his sandals on quietly, as he spotted a green door opposite from the bottom of the bed. He walked over and was just reaching the doorknob when the door suddenly slammed him in the face. "Oh! I'm sorry, terribly sorry… Are you ok? I'm Alphonse. But you can call me Al if you'd like." Naruto was rubbing hid reddened nose as he gazed at the massive blue suit of armor standing in the doorway. Al yelled, "Big brother! He's awake!"

Naruto could hear someone approaching from stairs to the right down the hall. As Al looked down the hall, Naruto pulled out his kunai, aiming it carefully at Al. He didn't know where he was, or who this Al guy was, but he was going to find out. Fast. A short blonde teenage boy wearing a red cloak and white gloves looked in the doorway. The boy looked at Naruto. "Hey! I'm glad you're ok! Do you feel better?" the boy asked. Naruto backed up and demanded, "Where am I? Who are you? And _why_ am I here?"

"Well, I'm Edward, or Ed, and this is my younger brother Alphonse. You're in my house, and we took you in because we found you down by the river last night when it was raining, so we brought you here. We weren't going to just leave you there to die, now were we?" Ed looked at Al.

"Now put the weapon away, and come get some breakfast." Al gestured downstairs.

"I'll be down, just give me a minute." Naruto said as they left. He closed the door and sat back down on the bed. Why am I here? What happened to me? And what's with the huge suit of armor that sounds like a twelve year old? Naruto's stomach growled, so he gave up on his thoughts, and decided to go downstairs and take care of his stomach first.

As he arrived downstairs, the fresh smell of eggs, bacon, and sweet fruit hit his nostrils. He spotted Al and Ed sitting at a table, Ed wolfing food down. There was a plate on the counter Naruto assumed was his, so he took it and sat down. He picked up his fork and was about to take a bite of the egg, when he noticed Al wasn't eating. Was this plate his? He better ask. "Why aren't you eating anything? You're so huge, it looks like you could eat a cow all by yourself." Naruto asked, looking at where the armor's eye slits supposed to be.

"Umm… You may not want to know the answer to that yet. You're obviously new here, and we don't want to freak you out or anything, so we'll tell you later." Al said.

"Tell me now, I can handle it."

"You don't want to know. Trust me, you don't."

"Yes I do! Tell me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Just tell me already!"

"Ok, here goes nothing. I'm a suit of armor, that's just it."

"What do you mean? Aren't you wearing the armor?" Naruto was perplexed.

"Kind of. I'm wearing the suit of armor, but it's not really. . . me inside of here. It's only part of me."

"What? So you're missing a leg or something?"

"Uh… No. I'm missing me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto was beginning to get frustrated. He jumped up, walked over to Al, and stood next to him, reaching for the helmet. "You don't want to --."

But Al was interrupted as Naruto pulled of the helmet and gazed inside with shock. There was nothing in it. _Nothing_. Naruto dropped the helmet with a clang and backed up, hitting one of the counters. That's not possible. Some_thing_, or someone is controlling this armor, maybe with some type of foreign chakra.

"Look, --." Ed began, but was interrupted by Naruto's screaming.

"What's going on here? What kind of chakra is this?"

"Chakra? And _we're_ the ones that are crazy?"

"This isn't normal, I need to get out of here." Naruto said, heading for what looked like the front door. Ed grabbed his orange sleeve before he could get anywhere. Ed's jacket pulled back slightly, and Naruto spotted metal underneath. Naruto quickly grabbed Ed's right arm with his hand, and pulled the rest of the jacket back with the other. _Solid_ metal. All the way up his arm!

"What is that? Where'd you get it?" Naruto blurted, staring at the metal coils, tubes, and pieces on Ed's arm.

"It's my prosthetic arm, ok?" Ed screamed back. "Now that you've discovered our great secrets, are you done tormenting us? We were just trying to help you! And this is how you repay us?" Ed jerked his arm back before Naruto could react. Naruto took a couple steps back and looked down at the wood paneled floor.

"I'm. . . I'm sorry. I truly am. I guess I just don't know how I got here, or where I am, or what's going on, and, it just got to me." Naruto said sullenly.

"It's alright, but just give us a second to explain, ok?" Ed said, looking at Naruto.

"Alright."

"First off, this isn't any kind of _chakra_ like you were saying, it's alchemy. I'm the Full Metal Alchemist, and this suit of armor is my little brother Alphonse. Our mother died when we were little, and we tried using transmutation to resurrect her. It all went horribly wrong and our transmutation circle backfired, consuming Al's body, and my arm. I had to save Al, so I gave up my leg to bind him to this suit of armor. That's why he's in a suit of armor, and that's why my arm and leg are like _this._" Ed pulled up his sleeve, and one leg of his pants, exposing the grey metal underneath. "That makes sense, sort of. So you give what you take is the idea of alchemy?" Naruto asked, gazing at the mechanized arm.

"The first law of alchemy, The Law of Equivalent Exchange. You nailed it." Ed said, pulling his sleeve and pant leg back down.

"But what _is_ alchemy? Some kind of magic?"

"I guess you could call it that. It's basically the power of changing matter and current elements into different matter and elements. Most people have to utilize transmutation circles for alchemy, but me and my little brother don't have to. We don't know why."

"So why don't you just change everything into gold and be rich?"

"You think people haven't thought of that? There are laws for those kinds of things."

"Ok, that would make sense. So you guys are out here, living on your own?" Naruto asked, looking around.

"Pretty much." Ed grinned.

"So why doesn't your little brother eat? I still don't get this alchemy thing."

"That's not alchemy that causes that. He's a suit of _armor_. Last time I checked, suits of armor didn't eat."

"Big brother, do you have to say it like I'm some kind of monster?" Al complained.

"Oh, sorry Al." Ed said. "He's a little touchy sometimes." Ed whispered to Naruto. "So what's your story?" Ed asked, nodding towards Naruto.

"Well, until now, I lived in the Hidden Leaf Village, probably very far away from here, training to be the ultimate ninja." Naruto began.

"Wait, what? A ninja? Is this some kind of joke?" Ed asked, chuckling quietly. Naruto heard Al laugh too.

"Being a ninja is serious! There's nothing funny about it!" Naruto yelled, and both boys immediately stopped laughing. They stared at him ominously.

"You're serious? One hundred percent serious about this ninja thing?" Ed asked, forcing down a laugh.

"I'm absolutely serious! It's the Way of the Ninja, and I'm training to be the greatest!" Naruto said, putting his fists on his waist and beaming.

"Alright, but what's this _chakra_ thing you keep mentioning? Is it some kind of power? I don't think I understand... The only thing my brother and I have experienced is alchemy."

"I guess you could call it a type of life force that ninjas can bend to their will, allowing them to complete superhuman feats of strength and agility." Naruto said, looking at Ed.

The room was silent for a while, other than the relaxed breathing of all three boys. No one knew what to say. The birds were chirping outside after the rain the night before, and the entire town was awake and bustling outside.

"So... What should we do now?" Naruto asked, looking around inquisitively.

"Well, Ed and I need to go to the market to pick up some more food, and you could come with us and explore if you want. You know, get used to your new surroundings." Al said lightheartedly.

"That sounds like a great idea! How soon can we leave?" Naruto asked, looking at Ed.

"In just a few minutes, let Al and I collect up our money." Ed said, heading upstairs. Al followed, and soon Naruto was left standing in the kitchen alone. What could this place be? Is it possible for me to have been kidnapped and put here? But that wouldn't make any sense, it's like I'm in an entirely different world. Al and Ed came back down the stairs, heading for the front door, and Naruto followed. This was going to be an exciting day. And If I'm lucky, maybe I'll remember something.

**END**


	2. The Forest Clearing

The market stalls and corridors were filled with the fresh scent of vegetables and fruits. Some extremely pungent, others vaguely noticable. Naruto was surprised to see the amount of food available in the small town. Ed and Al had been stopping along the way at various places, filling their arms with delicious foods. It was about mid-day when they finished shopping and Ed turned to Naruto and said, "Hey, let's take this stuff back home, and then I want to show you a really cool place Al and I found out in the forest." He pointed west of town.

"Alright, sounds good to me." Naruto said, smiling and following them back home. He wished he could run off and explore by himself, but that could be dangerous considering he doesn't know anyone here. They arrived home, and packed the supplies into the kitchen. When it was done, all three boys walked outside. "Follow me as fast as you can, and don't get lost." Ed said, taking off. Naruto followed with ease, catching up, and following them throughout the alleyways between the wooden houses. Ed and Al picked up speed, and Naruto easily adjusted. He was keeping level with Ed now, without even breaking a sweat, and Ed was breathing heavily. They began to advance on the outskirts of town, and now could see the massive forest looming up ahead. They stopped at the edge of the forest to take a quick break. "I'm surprised you can run that fast, Naruto." Ed said between breaths. Naruto folded his arms behind his head and was taking deep, relaxing breaths.

"You ready to keep going?" Ed asked, grinning at Naruto.

"Whenever you are."

They took off again, Ed running as fast as his legs would carry him, but Naruto was always only one step behind. The forest got thicker and bushes, thorns, and vines had to be dodged more often, until the forest just seemed to stop as they reached the top of a small hill. Swaying green grasses filled the hill, and on top, a huge gray rock jutted out of the earth. Ed slowed to a walking pace, and the two followed him to the rock. Ed and Al hopped up and sat on the rock, so Naruto followed suit.

"This is where Al and I go sometimes, when we're feeling lost or sad. It's so peaceful up here, it just makes you forget..." Ed said, staring off in the distance.

"It's really nice up here." Naruto said, looking around at the flying bugs and swaying grasses. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky had started to turn a deep red. Ed suddenly looked at Naruto. "You didn't have much trouble keeping up back there, so you were serious about the whole ninja thing?" Ed asked.

"Definitely. Back home, I knew a guy who carried several hundred pound weights on _each_ leg all day long, and when he took them off, he could move faster than the blink of an eye." Naruto said, staring off into space.

"Now _that's _impressive. So what kind of stuff can you do? Like, what can ninjas do in general?" Ed asked.

"Lots of things. All ninjas are different, so they learn different _spells_, or ninjutsu. I'll show you a trick I learned recently, follow me." Naruto said, leaping off the rock. They walked to the edge of the forest again, and Naruto looked for the tallest tree in the area. The one he found was about one hundred feet tall, and realtively branchless.

"Now watch this." Naruto focused his mind, and felt the chakra flow to his feet. He took off running towards the tree, the abruptly jumped on it, continuing to run up the side. He willed more chakra towards his feet, and picked up speed. He flew up th tree, nearly to the top now. When he reached the top, he jumped off and did a backflip on the way down, landing five feet from Ed. Ed was so surprised he stumbled and fell backwards.

"That was. . . AMAZING!!! How'd you do that?" Ed exclaimed. Al was staring impossibly at the tree.

"Easy. I just focus my chakra towards my feet. That was nothing. You should've seen some of the _battles_ I've been in." Naruto said, bragging.

"I wish I could learn how to do that." Ed said, looking jealous.

"I suppose you could possibly learn how... But it would take several years of training and practice." Naruto said, looking up at the tree he scaled. The sun was about to dip below the mountains, covering the hill with darkness when Ed said, "We better hurry home. It's dangerous at night, and we don't want to be stuck out here. When we get back, I'll give you a short tour of the house." Ed said, and that was all the words spoken until they arrived home.

"Alright, well, the first room you see from the front door is the kitchen obviously, and to the left there's a set of stairs going up to a hallway. On the left of the hallway is your room, for now anyways, and at the end is me and Al's room. But that's pretty much the house. We have a small garden out back, but we don't spend too much time out there. If you need anything when you're in your room, just holler for me or Al, and we'll help you out. But other than that, there's not much else. The only thing left to say is welcome to our home." Ed said pointing to the various rooms in the house.

"Well thank you very much for your hospitality. And I'm sorry about the way I acted this morning, I guess I freaked out. Most people would have either left me to die, or kicked me out when I yelled. But you didn't. Thank you for that." Naruto said, his eyes almost tearing up. He felt like giving both Al and Ed a hug, but decided not to.

"No problem!" Ed said, grinning. "We're probably going to hit the sack, but you're welcome to stay up as late as you like." Ed and Al both headed upstairs, and Naruto could hear them walk across the hallway. Naruto turned off the lights and went upstairs to his room. There wasn't much, only a bed, a stool, and a small dresser, but that was a heck of a lot better than making it on his own outside. He flipped off the light, took off his shoes and crawled in bed. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the day's events. He was awake, laying in bed for about another hour, and was sleepless. He didn't want to disturb Al or Ed, so he quietly got out of bed, and headed downstairs to get a glass of water. He reached the kitchen and was grabbing a glass from the cupboard when he detected movement behind him. Suddenly, a cold arm clamped around his neck. Naruto, out of surprise, dropped the glass and it shattered loudly as it hit the floor.

Naruto acted quickly, and fought back against his assailant. He reached back and elbowed it hard in the stomach, and it's arm briefly released it's grip around his neck. "Ed!" Naruto managed to scream before the arm wrapped around him again. Naruto suddenly felt as if he were picked up, then the attacker threw him across the room, and he landed on the dining table. It collapsed underneath the force with a crash. Naruto could see the faint outline of his assailant in the dark, and it's red, piercing eyes. He threw a shuriken, only missing by a few inches, it plowing into the wood cabinet behind. He heard a faint movement by the stairs, and turned to look.

He saw Ed, a blade emerging from his arm, and Al close behind him. He looked back towards the attacker, but it was gone. No trace at all. Ed and Al ran to Naruto. "Naruto! Are you ok? What happened?" Ed blurted, nervously looking around.

"I... I was attacked... I don't know who or _what_ it was." Naruto looked towards the back of the kitchen, and the door leading to the garden was wide open. Al ran and secured the door, and Ed made sure the front door wasn't tampered with.

"I'm so sorry about the furniture, I'll find money to pay --" Naruto was cut off by Ed.

"Don't worry about it!" Ed smiled walking over to the broken table. He clapped his hand once, and forced them to the floor. The room began to glow, and Naruto shielded his eyes. When the glow was gone, he looked back at the table. Perfectly new. Not a single scratch. And Al had removed the shuriken, and fixed the cabinet and glass. "Why don't we go back upstairs and get some rest? I'll sleep in your room tonight to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Ed had continualy insisted on guarding Naruto's room, but also insisted on sleeping on the floor. Naruto felt bad, but he couldn't do anything to change Ed's mind. Finally, relaxed in bed he said, "Thanks, Ed." Ed may have said something in response, but Naruto was already fast asleep.

**END**


	3. Down by the River

Naruto awoke to the soft sound of rain outside the window. The fresh smell of the moisture penetrated the wood and filled his nostrils. Naruto loved the smell of rain. He got up slowly and put his shoes on, the bed creaking as he moved. Ed was gone, and Naruto could hear some noise downstairs, so he thought he'd better go check it out. He went downstairs and the smell of food hit him like a boulder. He hadn't eaten since yesterday at breakfast, and he was starving.

Ed and Al had prepared a huge breakfast, after buying groceries the day before. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice, pancakes, and toast filled the dining table. Naruto's stomach growled so loudly just then that Ed could hear it over the hissing of the cooking food. They laughed. They all sat down to eat and were silent for the first few minutes, savoring each bite.

"So what did that… thing, look like last night? Did you catch a glimpse?" Ed asked, between mouthfuls of food.

"Well, I couldn't see much, but it was about a foot taller than me, and it had bright red eyes, almost squinted. I think it may have been… I think it could have been partially metal too, kind of like you." Naruto said, closing his eyes, and trying to remember what he could.

"Is that all you remember?"

"Yeah… That's pretty much it. I can't think of anything else."

"Alright, well, after we finish breakfast we'll look around the house for any clues, like maybe it left something behind." Ed said.

They all finished eating, then cleaned up afterwards. They searched the entire house for anything that might give the attacker away, but didn't find anything. They gave up. "There's obviously nothing here. We're not going to find anything." Al said.

"Well, we've searched the whole house an didn't find anything, so you're probably right. What should we do now?" Naruto asked, looking at Ed.

"It doesn't really matter to me. We don't have to lead you around, you're welcome to explore on your own." Ed said, smiling brightly.

"Is it alright if I go down by the river where you found me? Maybe I'll remember something.."

"That's ok, I guess. The river is south of town, and not to far. You should be able to get there, spend some time alone, and come back well before dinner. Do you want to take something to eat?" Ed asked, motioning towards the cabinets.

"No thanks. I should probably leave right now then. Either of you guys want to come with?" Naruto questioned, looking at both boys.

"I'm good. I think I'll stay here and get some more sleep." Ed said, yawning loudly.

"Big brother, is it alright if I go with Naruto?" Al asked.

"Sure, it's up to you. Have fun, and please _try _and not get lost or attacked again." Ed began ascending the stairs.

"Well, then, let's go!" Naruto said excitedly.

Al and Naruto ran as fast as they could towards the southern end of the town. As they got further south, a small valley appeared up ahead, with a great river flowing west in the center. They slowed to a brisk walking pace when they were close. The ground was sticky with mud from the rain, earlier that morning and they had to be careful not to slip and fall. Al walked a few paces from Naruto, and pointed at the ground and said, "This is where we found you. You were tried to curl yourself into a ball, but only made it half-way when you passed out. Naruto gazed at the spot on the ground, and tried to remember something, _anything_. He looked back up in the rushing river, and saw some large rocks near the closest shore. He walked over to the river, and looked at the rocks, than back down into the river.

The river suddenly seemed to be moving at a ferocious velocity, bubbles everywhere, and the sound of splashing surrounded him. He couldn't breathe, he tried, but he couldn't, he felt himself getting light-headed and dizzy. Then suddenly he could breathe again, air rushing into his oxygen starved lungs. SMACK. Something hard hit Naruto in the chest and chin, nearly causing him to pass out. He felt a hard substance against his back as he flipped over. Then suddenly, the river disappeared, and Naruto collapsed into the mud by the river. "Naruto! Naruto! Are you ok?" Al ran, and nearly slipped and landed on top of him. Naruto opened his eyes and saw Al's metallic face above him. "What... What happened?" Naruto said, confused.

"I don't know, you were standing by the river and then you collapsed."

"That's all? That's all that happened? I wasn't _in_ the river?"

"No, you were only standing next to it. Nothing else happened. Maybe you started to remember something..." Al said, looking hopeful. Naruto carefully pushed himself up and out of the mud, Al letting him use him for balance. "Maybe you're right. I think... Last night I was being pushed down the river by the strong current, and I couldn't breathe. At the last second I fought my way to the surface. I started gulping down air, then something hard hit my chest... I think it was those rocks... I was dazed, and I barely managed to crawl out of the river before I passed out from exhaustion." Naruto said, motioning to the rocks. "That's all I can remember..." Naruto grabbed Al's armored arm for support, he was still a little confused, as they struggled to make they're way back. It took them longer than expected, Naruto still feeling weak, and they got home a little before sunset.

Ed heard them and rushed out the door. "What took you guys so long? Have to much fun?" Ed said, laughing.

"Actually, Naruto collapsed down by the river. He said he remembers something. Not much, but something." Al said snidely, helping Naruto inside.

"Oh, sorry." Ed looked hurt. "You guys are really dirty, I'll go get some spare clothes." He ran off inside. Al helped Naruto up to his room, and Ed came back in with clothes. He dropped a red shirt and jeans on Naruto's bed. They both left so Naruto could change. He stripped down, then put the warm, dry clothes on. He had already gotten into bed before he said, "I'm done." Ed and Al came back in. Ed took the muddy clothes and headed downstairs. Al turned around and followed Ed out, saying, "Night, Naruto. Don't let the bed bugs bite!" He laughed.

That night, Naruto dreamed of all his friends back home, all the people he would miss. Sasuke, with his ever-growing attitude. Sakura, the girl of his dreams with her flowing pink hair. Kakashi, his mentor. He would miss everyone back home. He needed to find a way to get back. He had to. He didn't want to be stuck here forever. Sure, it was great here with Ed and Al, having no responsibilities, but he wanted to get back to the Leaf Village to continue training and honing his skills.


	4. Rescue

Naruto awoke to a familiar sound. It cut through the air like a knife, piercing the silence. He was still groggy, so it was hard to make out what it was. He heard it again. A scream.

Naruto threw the blankets off of him, jammed his feet into his shoes, got up, and looked outside the window. It was still dark, but Naruto could hear the scream again, coming from the right of the house. He opened the window and jumped down to the ground. He ran to the right, as quiet as his feet would carry him, glancing down the corridors and alleyways. Then he saw it.

A woman was being attacked by a man. He ran down the alleyway, right as the man pulled out a long, shiny knife. The woman screamed in terror as she watched him raise the knife, ready to plunge it down and into her soft skin. Naruto reacted quickly and launched himself into the air, pulling his legs out in front of him. The man saw the woman look at Naruto, so he turned and looked at what was coming. Naruto's feet pounded the man square in the chest, and the man fell backwards onto the ground, heaving for oxygen. Naruto looked at the woman and said, "Miss, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"No, just a few scratches, that's all. Thank you so much, I thought I was going to die..." The woman said gratefully, her eyes welling up with tears. She ran to Naruto and gave him a hug, squeezing the breath out of him for several long seconds. When she finished, she took a few steps back and looked at him. "What should we do with him?" She said, motioning towards the man. Just after she said that, the man grabbed the knife lying on the ground and got up. The woman heard the noise and turned around, and the man had raised the knife into the air once more. She screamed again. Just as the man was coming down with the knife, Naruto pushed the woman to the ground, out of harm's way. Naruto shot his hand up towards the hand that held the knife and caught it by the wrist, stopping it in it's tracks. The man gave a look of surprise to Naruto, then launched his other fist towards Naruto's face. Naruto let go of the man's wrist, and ducked under the incoming fist. He moved forward towards the man, catching him with his guard down. He focused his chakra and punched the man in the stomach, sending him backwards several feet, then dropping him on the ground with a thud. Apparently after Naruto punched the man, he let go of the knife, and it skittered to a halt next to the wall. The man groaned and didn't get up, after lying motionless on the ground. "Don't worry, he's not dead, I only knocked him out." Naruto said to the woman, looking back at her. She was trembling, obviously distraught, and didn't know what to say. An early-morning guard walked across the street, across from the alleyway they were occupying. "Sir! Sir, this man attacked this woman! He needs to be taken away!" Naruto yelled. It took the guard a few moments to figure out where the noise came from, then he came down the alleyway quickly. "Is this true ma'm? Did that man on the ground attack you?" The guard questioned.

"Y... Yes, sir. He tried to kill me, but this ma--." She was interrupted when she tried to give credit to Naruto, but he was gone. He disappeared. Naruto stood on top of a building close to the alleyway, watching. He saw the woman give a confused look to the guard, show him her scratches and the knife, and then motion to the man. The guard carried the man off, dragging him by his legs, and Naruto watched the woman amble home. Naruto lept several buildings quietly and returned home. When he got there, all the lights were off, so Ed and Al must be still asleep. Naruto focused the chakra towards his feet and jumped up to the window, catching it by the ledge. He hoisted himself inside. He could hear footsteps coming down the hall now, so he threw off his shoes and climbed into bed. His door creaked open.

Ed poked his head through the crack in the door. "Did you go somewhere?" He asked curiously, looking around the room for any signs of Naruto leaving.

"When?" Naruto decided to play dumb.

"Just now. Did you leave the house?" Ed was obviously seeing straight through Naruto's act.

"Fine, I'll admit it. But I only left the house because a woman was screaming and she needed help. There was a man attacking her so I dealt with it. The man's in prison and the woman got home safely." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Wait, you did _what_? Well, at least you weren't out getting yourself into trouble or anything." Ed let out a big sigh. Ed walked in the room. "You hungry? Everyone's apparently awake, so we might as well eat now." Ed said, heading for the door again. Naruto got up, put his shoes on, still warm from a few minutes before, and followed Ed downstairs. Alphonse was sitting tiredly at the dining table. Naruto pulled a chair up and sat beside him.

"Hey Al? Can I ask you a question?" Naruto asked, staring at the large blue armored shoulder next to him.

"What is it?" Al said.

"Well... I'm not trying to... I don't want to upset you or anything, but what actually keeps you _inside_ the armor? If it's really just your soul in there, wouldn't it just kind of... Float away?" Naruto asked sheepishly. He was afraid of how Al might react. "Haha, this is why." Al said, lifting the armor's helmet off. "Look towards the lower back." Said Al's voice, echoing throughout the armor. Naruto peered inside, looking deeper and deeper inside the armor. He spotted something. It was in a deep red color, a circle with different markings. "What is that?" Naruto asked, sitting back in his chair.

"It's the transmutation circle that keeps me in the suit of armor. It what holds me in here." He said, poking his chest with his finger.

"Oh. Ok!" Naruto said, smiling.

Ed finished making breakfast, and they enjoyed it in silence. Later today, Naruto decided he was going to go back to the river and see if he could remember any more of what happened. There had to be some reason he was here. A reason for sticking him in a place like this. So far away from home, with nobody he recognizes. He wondered if anyone back home missed him, or even noticed if he was gone. He wondered if maybe _he_ left the Leaf Village, and got sidetracked along the way, ending up here. Maybe someone didn't put him here, or maybe someone did. He'll just have to figure that part out too.


	5. A Warning

As they were cleaning up breakfast, Ed had mentioned there was a woman in town that was considered something of a psychic, or a healer. He suggested that maybe the woman could help Naruto remember what happened to him, or how to get back. Naruto like the idea, which brings us to where they are now. Heading towards the healing woman.

"So, this lady, does she have a name?" Naruto asked, looking at the gound as they walked, watching little pebbles pass by.

"Well, most just call her Alethea. We've never questioned it, it's just a name." Ed said.

Naruto didn't say anything more as they walked, and they arrived shortly. The house was a slightly darker tone than the ones surrounding it. There was a front door on the left, front-facing side of the house, and next to it on the right, two windows. Beneath the windows were two rectangular pots filled with the most beautiful roses Naruto had ever seen. The brushed gently in the wind, glimmering as the sun struck the red velvet of the flowers. Naruto sat and stared at the roses for quite sometime before he noticed Ed and Al trying to urge him on. They must not have seen the gorgeous roses.

They walked inside the building, and saw Alethea sitting at a circular table in the center of the house. Alethea looked up and saw Naruto, and a sudden look of fear crossed her face, but it passed as quickly as it came. "Please, take a seat my children." She said smoothly, motioning to three chairs across the table from her.

"Now, what is it you are here for?" Alethea asked, again in that smooth voice.

"W-- We came to see if you would help us discover what happened to our friend, Naruto." Ed said politely, stammering once. They're obviously slightly scared of her, thought Naruto. But why? It's just an old woman. "I will make it my effort to guide your friend, if that is what you will." Alethea said. "Come, boy, lean in closer to the table so I may have a look at you." Alethea said. Naruto wasn't sure, but every time this woman said something, her voice seemed to be getting darker. Naruto leaned forward over the table, allowing her to look at his facial feature and his upper body, watching her eyes glide over him like there was nothing there. She reached up, and gently put her soft, wrinkled old hands just over Naruto's temples.

"Spirits of the past, present and future..." She began, closing her eyes. Suddenly her voice grew faint, and Naruto could hear another voice growing louder inside his head. It was dark, sinister, and frightening. Aletha opened her eyes, but they were rolled back up into her head. "You cannot run, you cannot hide. It is inevitable. The reign of the Mecha Ninja will rise again." The voice said, it seemed to echo throughout his body. Horrible, terrifying images filled Naruto's mind as the voice spoke. Horrid images of tortured people, burning villages, slaughtered animals. The images flashed through his head like wildfire. Naruto jerked back from Alethea, falling into his chair, then backwards onto the floor. The old woman collapsed on the other side of the table. Al helped Naruto to his feet, and Ed ran around the table to Alethea. The woman flew up from the ground and onto her feet, almost as if the wind itself were carrying her. Her face was scarred with an agonzing look of sheer terror. "Evil is coming! Evil is coming! You must leave! Leave now!" Alethea said, pushing them all towards the door. They got outside, and were going to ask her what was going on, but the door slammed shut in front of them. "Alethea?" Al called out. There was no reply.

"What happened? What did you see, Naruto?" Ed asked cautiously.

"I saw evil... Pure, dark, unrelenting evil... And it's coming... Soon." Naruto said ominously.

"What evil? What evil, Naruto?" Al asked, worried.

"Terrible, horrible evil. The Mecha Ninja is returning. He is gathering power. He will return and destroy us all!" Naruto screamed. The images flooded back, clear as memories, overwhelming Naruto. He felt weak, and then his mind went blank. He passed out.


	6. The Mecha Ninja

Naruto jerked awake, and his head felt as if it were about to explode. The searing pain etched into his head as he tried to sit up. His stomach was suddenly upset, and he felt as if he were going to throw up. The nausea subsided, so he hoisted himself slowly out of bed. He had been stripped of all his clothes other than his underwear, and he wondered why. He must've had a fever or something. He saw fresh clothes next to the bed, and struggled to pull them on as the pain increased in his head. His mind was still a little blank as he sat back down on the bed, feeling the warmth of where he slept beneath him. Then the memories of yesterday came rushing back like a train.

The woman. Alethea. That strange, terrifying voice, the images, everything flooded back again like a vicious torrent, almost overpowering him. He nearly passed out a second time, before the memories dissapated. He sat a few moments, quietly. He wanted to figure this all out. He didn't know what this "Mecha NInja" was, but it was obviously evil, and he needed to find out more about it. He plopped back on the bed to relax, clear his mind, but he was suddenly exhausted and fell asleep once more.

He awoke a second time and felt much better. Someone had come in and pulled the covers over him to keep him warm. There was daylight outside, blocked by the windows shutters, but the light persisted and seeped through some of the cracks. He wondered how long he had been asleep. He temporarily lost his perception of time. There was some more fresh clothes out, so Naruto took the old ones off and put the new ones on. The cloth felt smooth against his skin, almost comforting. The memories didn't flood back like before, but he knew they were there, floating around his head like clouds of destruction. He continued and put his shoes on, then steadily stood up. It wasn't a bad as he thought it would be. The headache was gone, and the only problem was that his legs were a little wobbly. He walked to the door and opened it, hearing Ed and Al talking downstairs. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but as he came down the stairs they stopped and looked at him. "Hey, good afternoon sunshine!" Ed said, laughing. Al still gave him a worried aura, through the suit of armor, but didn't say anything. "Hey Ed. How long was I asleep?" Naruto asked.

"Well, the last time you were awake that we know of was when we took you to Alethea. That was two days ago. So roughly forty-eight hours. It's mid-day right now." Ed said, looking outside.

"Alright, thanks. Look, I'm really sorry I dragged you guys into this. I just... I don't know what to do. I didn't mean for you guys to get caught in this whole mess, then have to help _me_ to find a way out. It's not right, and I expected way too much from you. If you guys would like, I can go find somewhere else to live. You guys can just go back to your normal lives." Naruto said sullenly. This had been bugging him since he got here, but it felt good to get it off his chest. "Who needs normal?" Ed asked, grinning.

"Yeah, without you, there's no excitement around here. It's all the same boring stuff, day in and day out." Al said sympathetically.

"You guys really mean that? I'm not a burden or anything?" Naruto asked, smiling back.

"Not at all! This is an _adventure_! We haven't had this much fun for a long time. Isn't that right, Al?" Ed said, laughing. He sat on the table and nudged Al in the chair.

"We enjoy your company, Naruto. It's fun having you here. Besides, that's what friends are for." Al said, nudging Ed back, almost knocking him off the table. That meant a lot to Naruto. He had two friends here. People he could trust and put faith in. That had a huge advantage in itself, when trying to solve your own problems. Naruto beamed with happiness. "Now, you're probably starving, considering you haven't eaten in more than two days. You hungry?" Ed asked. The question triggered a reaction in his stomach, and reminded his brain he needed food. His stomach growled loudly. They all laughed and prepared a massive lunch. They ate vigorously, especially Naruto, lacking two days worth of food and energy.

"So, what is this Mecha Ninja thing you were mentioning when we went and consulted Alethea?" Ed asked after lunch. He was curious to find out what caused so much trouble. "Well, when Alethea tried to see into my past, present, and future, she couldn't. She blacked out and I heard a strange, evil voice in my head, and saw horrible images of people and animals being killed. It was horrible. The voice told me that the Mecha Ninja would return and it was inevitable. Then I blacked out. It was all so strange. I don't even know who or what this Mecha Ninja thing is. But I know it's definitely not a good thing it's coming back." Naruto explained.

Ed thought about this for a while. "Well, I may know someone who can help us. His name is Lucianus, and he knows a lot about Seneca's region and past, as well as Septim's." He said, trying to find a solution to the problem.

"That's all great, but what's a Seneca, and what's a Septim? I'm assuming it has something to do with where we are now? And what's with all these weird sounding names?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Oh, my bad. I never even told you where we are." Ed laughed at his own forgetfulness. "We're in an empire called Seneca (a combination of The United Kingdom and Ireland). The town we're in now is called Septim. It was the seventh city built in Seneca's empire. Seneca has a lot of Greek and Roman influence, that's why the name's must sound funny to you." Ed said. This was new to Naruto. Everything where he was from sounded entirely different. He'll just have to get used to it, he decided. "So are you ready to go see Lucianus?" Ed asked.

"Absolutely. I want to figure this thing out just as much as you do." Naruto said excitedly. They were'nt sure how long they'd be there, so they packed some food to take with them. Lucianus' house wasn't far from theirs, so it took almost no time to get there, especially at the excited pace they were moving. It was a few hours before dusk when they got there.

Ed walked up to the front door and knocked. Immediately, a voice replied, "Who's there?" Naruto was shocked by the speed of the answer. Nonetheless, Ed replied, "Lucianus, it's Ed. I have my brother and a friend named Naruto here to speak with you. We have an issue that needs taking care of." The door clicked and Lucianus stood in the doorway. He had short brown hair, and was wearing a long dark green cloak. "So just how serious is this problem?" He asked curiously.

"It's going to push the extent of your knowledge." Ed said, as they entered his house. To Naruto, it didn't look much like a house at all. More like a library. Thousands of books lined the walls, some written in English, some in other indistinguishable languages. "This way, please." Lucianus said, starting down a corridor. They followed Lucianus into a rectangular room lined with shelves of books, and the center had two couches, a table, and a chair in a arranged in a circular shape. They all sat down on the extremely comfortable couches, and Lucianus sat in the chair facing them. "So what is this problem you continue to mention?" Lucianus asked, giving Ed a rather serious look.

"Well, my friend Naruto could probably tell you better than I can. Naruto, this is Lucianus. He's an old friend of mine." Naruto said, looking at Naruto.

"Uh, hello Lucianus." Naruto said, struggling with the Roman pronunciation. "Well, we wanted to find out more about something called the Mecha Ninja." Lucianus' eyes widened as Naruto said this. Something frightened this man deeply. Lucianus took a deep breath and got up. "Wait here." He said, walking over to a shelf nearby. He picked a massive, dust covered book of the shelf. It was dirty and muggy looking. Something that Naruto probably would've thrown away if he didn't know better. Lucianus walked the book over to the table and set it down with a solid thud. He kneeled down to the table and took a deep breath, then blew the dust of the book. Suddenly the book had a beautiful brown leather cover, with imprinted gold letters that now shone brightly. "This is _The Legends of Seneca_, an extremely rare book that was handed down to me by my father. It is written anonymously, for the author surely would have been prosecuted for filling the public's minds with foolishness, or that was what it was acclaimed as back then. Every page in this book is filled with nearly every legend or myth brought about in Seneca. I've read it many times, and memorized most of the stories. Very few people know about the Mecha Ninja, it is not a widely known legend. And as I said before, this book is rare. Extremely rare. In fact, there are probably only about fifteen left in existence. Many of the copies were thrown out, thought to be useless information, or burned by officials." Lucianus said, flipping carefully through the book, looking at it as if it were gold.

"So what _is_ the Mecha Ninja? Or at least what does the book say?" Ed said, wanting to get to the exciting part already.

"Well..." Lucianus began, filing through the pages to find the right one. He found it and scanned down the page. "It says here that the Mecha Ninja was a horrific being that ravaged Seneca hundreds of years ago. It says that this "Mecha Ninja" was part robotic, or some kind of extremely strong metal alloy, and part fabled warrior. It was a kind of warrior that nobody in the country had ever seen before, and it was called a ninja. The mecha part of the name, came from the mechanics, or metals in it's body. Anyway, it destroyed villages and killed thousands upon thousands of people and animals. It killed anything in it's path, and the land was scorched to a wasteland from it's destructive force. It was stopped by a man who gave his life to protecting Seneca, but it doesn't say much about how he did it or who he was."

"How does something like that get so much power? And was it originally human?" Naruto asked.

"Well, it may have been human at one time or another, but it wasn't anymore. It is absolute evil, the purest of any evil you can imagine so you can probably guess what it feeds on." Lucianus explained, looking at Naruto.

"Fear, hatred, and destruction?" Naruto guessed. It was an obvious answer for something like that.

"Correct. It becomes stronger by feeding of of peoples' fear and hatred towards each other. It enjoys the destruction it creates, and feeds off of it's evil aura." Lucianus said, continuing to read the page. "Wait. No, that can't have happened. That wasn't there. That should _not_ be there."

"What's going on?" Ed asked, leaning to wards the book. Lucianus picked the book up and laid it on it's spine before them. At the end of the description, words in vivid black ink were written sloppily on the page. It read: "The Mecha Ninja will arise again to desecrate the land of Seneca. It is inevitable."

"Is this someone's idea of a sick joke? Why would someone do this?" Lucianus was furious. He frowned and looked up at the boys. "Do you know anything about this?" He pointed at the words scribbled on the page. Or at least he tried to. The words disappeared. They vanished into thin air right before their eyes. Lucianus looked at the book and threw it down, backing away from the table. "What's going on?" He screamed.

"Look, we can explain." Al said, trying to calm Lucianus.

Lucianus was mumbling to himself when he looked up. "You can? How could you possibly explain this?" Lucianus seriously doubted them. The three boys took turns explaining the last few days' events, since they found Naruto at the river. They told him about the attacker, and what happened to Naruto and Alethea. Lucianus gave them a puzzled look when they finally finished explaining. "So you're telling me that Naruto had visions, and heard a voice, possibly the Mecha Ninja's?"

Naruto stammered slightly. "Yes."

"This is definitely not good. Very _very_ bad indeed. We need to figure this out quickly. So Naruto, you have no idea how or why you are here in Septim?" Lucianus asked, looking for missing links.

"Not a clue." Naruto scratched his head.

"Wait, I have an idea." Lucianus said, returning to the table. He rapidly flipped the book open to the back. Hand-written, was a message. "This is a prophecy that was written by my father's grandfather, who was a seer of time. You could compare him to Alethea, only much more powerful. He wrote this prophecy more than 250 years ago. A majority of it has faded, but we can still read the beginning of the passage.

"In the darkened days of man,  
A young lad will rise to fight the evil that comest,  
He shall slay the great evil,  
Looming over, throwing shadows across our peaceful land,  
And free the land of it's terrible reign,  
He will fight with the four natures that this land has given us,  
And unite to..."

Lucianus read aloud until the prophecy faded into the page. "And you say you found your friend mysteriously by the river? He just appeared?"

"Hey now, don't go assuming that means me. I'm just a normal person like everyone else." Naruto said defensively. He didn't want to get involved any more into this mess unless he had to. "Yeah, a normal person doesn't appear out of nowhere by a river, and be able to run up a tree without breaking a sweat using his _chakra_." Ed said sarcastically.

"Or call himself a _ninja_." Al chimed in.

"Wait, what did you just say? You call yourself a ninja? And you can run up trees?" Lucianus asked, practically accusing Naruto.

It looks like I just got _dumped_ into the mess, thought Naruto. "Yes, it's true." He sighed. "But I'm no _savior_ or anything like that."

"Well, it's not like it's impossible. We just haven't proved that you are yet. I think you three should find out as much as you can about why and how Naruto got here. Then come back to me if you find anything out of the ordinary." Lucianus said.

"That sounds like a better plan than what we've got." Said Ed.

"And what exactly was our plan?" Asked Al, giving him a confused look.

"Nothing." Ed smiled and laughed heartily.

"This is nothing to be making jokes about! It's a serious issue! We need to figure out how to stop the Mecha Ninja before it returns. The only way we can do that is by finding who this prophecy is directed towards." Yelled Lucianus.

"You're right. But what should we do first?" Ed asked, giving a blank face.

"I think you should take Naruto back to the river for a second time and look for more clues or evidence, or maybe he'll remember something." Suggested Lucianus.

"That's a good idea. We'll start there." Naruto said affirmatively.

Lucianus stood up and put the book back in it's respective place. The sun was beginning to set and it was getting darker. "You guys should get home quickly, it's getting dark." Lucianus said, ushering them out the door.

"Alright, thank you so much for all the help." Ed said.

"Yes, that was extremely helpful." Said Naruto. They were tired, and they needed to get back anyway. They ate the food they packed on the way home, and then all three went to bed and quickly fell alseep.

"...The Mecha Ninja cannot be stopped.  
He will feed upon the souls of the living,  
And the rotting corpses of the dead.  
Nothing will stand in it's way,  
Not even your pitiful hero..."

A voice seemed to whisper in the wind as Naruto, Ed, and Al were fast asleep, dreaming of the days to come.


	7. Evil from Earth

Naruto awoke, exhausted from the night before. As his brain began to remember the events from the past few days, it kicked into high gear. Suddenly, his mind was racing, a furious blur of questions and outrageous statements racing throughout his head. He wasn't sure what he might expect at the river today. He might remember something useful, or it might not bring back any memories, and he would be destined to never know what happened to him. He thought of the prophecy Lucianus had presented to them. He wondered if maybe, somehow, someway, he could be the hero that would vanquish the evil. He supposed it was possible, but he seriously doubted that possibility. Little did he know...

Naruto arose from bed and the fresh scent of the outside air distracted him. It was late that morning, so the markets had opened, and Naruto could smell the delectably sweet smell of fruits, and the warm, comforting smell of fresh-made bread. His stomach growled, insisting on him debouring some food soon. He put on his clothes, and slipped on his shoes, but didn't proceed downstairs. He walked to the window, resting his shoulders on the sill. The smell of the morning enticed him, so he sat and breathed the delicious morning air, looking outside at the people passing by. There were shop owners carting their heavy goods to their stalls, shoppers carrrying their hefty loads of groceries, and many children running crazily throughout the streets, playing catch, or tag. Naruto focused on the horizon, looking north at the roaming mountains that seemed so distant. His vision flashed. The image before him turned into red skies filled with black poisonous smoke, and the mountains once peaceful, were now covered in fire, and Naruto could barely make out some of the larger animals running for their lives. He looked down at the village below and wished he hadn't. Fire burned hastily through the houses and market stalls, destroying anything it touched. Women and children were screaming in agony, and most of the men were dead or brutally injured, blood gushing from their open wounds. Animals ran through the streets as fast as they could, some missing limbs and other parts, and some even on fire. He could smell the stench of death and feel the unstoppable sense of evil looming over his body. The image startled Naruto and he blinked. It was gone. Disappeared, and the village was back to it's prosperous self. He was shaking now, sucking in huge gulps of air, and told himself in his mind to calm down. It was just a vision. Only a vision. Naruto finally relaxed and began breathing normally again. He decided not to tell Ed or Al, because he didn't need them any more than they already were. He didn't want to throw the town into panic either, that would only make the situation worse.

Naruto joined the others downstairs, and they had an enjoyable late breakfast. As they were finishing eating, Ed said, "Naruto, do you feel up to going down to the river today? You don't have to if you don't want to. Naruto thought about this, considering the possibilities. He could stay here and relax, or try and uncover whatever secrets might be hiding within him. "Of course I'm ready." Naruto said assuredly.

"Alright, well, Al and I will pack some more food in case we get hungry." Ed said.

"That sounds great." Naruto said, "I'm going upstairs, and I'll be back down in a few minutes." He felt bad about leaving them to do all the dishes and work, but he left anyway. He pushed his plate forward on the table and continued up the mahogany stairway. He entered his room and closed the door. He needed some time to think. He made his bed as he pondered. He couldn't be the hero the prophecy talked about, there's no way. Besides, it wasn't even an _entire_ prophecy. The beginning of a prophecy can change drastically by the end. Besides, he didn't believe in the whole "fate decided" crap, he just lived in the moment and took whatever came his way. In addition to that, what if he didn't even _want_ to be the hero? Was it his choice or some superior being's? It just didn't make sense. Naruto was beginning to feel frustrated with himself, and just went downstairs to join the other boys. Ed and Al were waiting by the door, with a delicious-smelling brown sack of food. "You ready?" Ed asked, nodding towards Naruto.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Naruto said flatly. He could tell that Ed knew something was wrong with him, but Ed didn't ask. Naruto figured Ed didn't want to embarass him.

They flew through the town, avoiding the busy merchants and playing children, making their way south of town rapidly. The arrived at the beautiful river, and it glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight. The last couple days worth of sun had dried the mud, and it was now sturdy enough to walk on. The made their way to the river, gazing through the now crystal clear, glass-like water, seeing the various fish ambling along below. Naruto could have sworn that all the fish had looked up and focused on them, but he ignored it as they swam off. They looked around for quite some time, but Naruto continued to return to the river. It seemed to captivate him. The clear liquid, flowing throw the grasses and rocks, conforming to there random shapes. Then the surface of the water began to ripple, distorting the images below. Naruto could feel his feet start to shake as the ground trembled beneath him. Ed and Al ran towards Naruto. "What going on?" Ed asked, watching several tree in the area start to crack. They could barely stand now, and all three of them toppled to the ground. "I have no idea!" Naruto shouted over the increasingly loud crashing. Naruto looked across the river and saw a fairly large spot on the ground curve upward, as if something were pushing it. The ground cracked, and grass and bushes rolled off, as the ground grew higher.

The ground erupted, and something massive emerged, the earth exploding into the air. The rocks feel back to the gound, revealing the being. The dust cleared and Naruto could make out a humanoid creature, at least forty feet tall, with a rock-like body. The earth attached to it seemed to move with the being as one, like a suit of armor. Naruto couldn't see a face near the head area, only four piercing red eyes, two on each side. "It doesn't look too friendly." Mumbled Ed. The beast lunged for the ground where they were lying. The barely had enough time to react, but they rolled quickly to the side, missing it's massive fist by only a foot. They got up as the beast stood. "Definitely not friendly" Ed smirked.

Split up or we don't stand a chance!" Naruto yelled, as the great being stomped on the gound. Ed headed to the right of the beast, Al left, and Naruto stood facing the center. Suddenly, it sounded as if the ground was trembling more, but Naruto could hear words. "I am Gaialor," The beast said, "I have come to crush the pathetic hero, and none will stand in my way." It pointed a long, rock covered finger directly at Naruto. Naruto had to act fast, he didn't stand a chance when there was only one of him. "Shadow Clone attack!" Naruto screamed, as he motioned the signals. In puffs of white-grey smoke, a dozen other Naruto appeared, ready to fight. Ed and Al looked surprised for a moment, then decided they should probably focus on their attacker. "Go!" Naruto yelled into the several other Narutos. They all swarmed, advancing on the beast, jumping the river. Naruto saw Al use his transmutation and form a long, pointy lance in one arm. Before Al could find a weapon, the Gaialor swatted at him, striking home. Al flew threw the air, burst through a tree, then landed with a crash on the ground, motionless. "Alphonse!" Ed screamed, running towards him. This was Naruto's chance. Gaialor was distracted momentarily, and turned around just as the clones and Naruto reached him. The beast was slightly confused, and just decided to smash them all. It put it's gigantic hands together, and raised them up high. Naruto didn't have enough time to react as the hammer came down. He couldn't move, there was no way to avoid it. SMASH! Came down the fist as Naruto poofed into smoke. Eleven more, Naruto thought, the real one still hiding amongst the crowd. Several clones began to climb the beast, attacking it on the way up.

Several more clones persisted in grabbing any nearby limbs and vines, starting on one leg of Gaialor, and ran around it quickly until the legs were tied together. Naruto suddenly noticed the beast wasn't resisting, and that the large stones and boulders that were on the ground before had disappeared. He looked up at the rock fiend and noticed all those boulders and rocks were floating. The began to spin rapidly, then rotate around the beast. Naruto and the clones all thought the same thing at once: RUN! They dashed away from the beast as the floating rocks increased their orbital velocity. Several, maybe five or six couldn't make it in time, and were impaled by the sharp stones, puffing away into smoke as they ran. Naruto only had five clones left. He considered his dimming probability of winning. He got an idea. The rest of the clones and him through several small black spheres at the beast. The round balls exploded into a thick, dark smoke, obscuring both the beasts and the clones view in a wide area. The beast launched the boulders at where Naruto had been standing, but they were already long gone, so the sharp stones plummeted into the ground uselessly. Three of the clones began encompassing the giant's feet with vines again, attempting to immobilize it.

Naruto and the remaining two clones scaled the rocky beast several feet at a time. It was hard to see in the smoke, but Naruto relied on his ninja instinct completely. He found handholds in the rock body of Gaialor, ascending quickly. He made it to about the chest when he heard a nearby poof. Four clones left. The three clones on the ground were struggling with the knot when one of them was squished by a monstrous foot. Three clones left. He heard the beast smack itself as it squashed another clone. Two clones. Naruto made it to the beasts head, searching it's neck for a weak spot. He senses something about to hit him, and jumped away just before a hand cracked loudly on the rock where he had just been. He was hanging onto a ledge when he felt something push him back up onto the giant's shoulder. The clones. The two remaining clones searched the neck and back of the head with him. He scaled the steep part of the neck and arose to the top of the head. He could see the dark red eyes just a few feet in front of him. He heard another poof. One clone. He advanced on the eyes and pulled out his kunai from his belt. He thrusts it directly into one of the upper eyes, then pulled it out. By then, the beast let out a thunderous growl and had time to react, but not before Naruto managed to pierce the lower eye too, a black liquid flowing out freely. The beast stumbled as it forgot it's feet were tied. Naruto felt the beast fall and he jumped sideways through the air, to avoid landing on the beast. He landed softly on the ground as the the being crushed an indent into the ground beside him. He saw a blur of movement pass him. The clone? No, he couldn't see it, it must have gotten crushed when Gaialor fell. Gaiailor groaned loudly, as the smoke began to clear. He saw a figure make a sudden movement on the back of the beast. It was Ed. He thrust the sharp end of the spear up into the neck of Gaialor, and the groan was cut off.

"Stay dead." Ed said angrily. Gaialor's body suddenly began to disintegrate, so Ed jumped off and then they ran a good distance together. Gaialor's body faded completely before Naruto spoke. "How's Al doing?" Naruto asked, worried. "He's ok, just unconcious. He'll be alright after he gets some rest." Ed said. Before they could say anything else, a shiny object appeared where Gaialor's body had been. Naruto ran to it before Ed could say anything. As Naruto drew closer to the crystal, he could see the shape of a beautiful diamond appear. It was glowing brightly, giving off a beautiful radiance. It also seemed to have a darker tint to the color, maybe brown or black. Ed yelled, "Don't touch it! It could be dangerous! A trap or something!"

"How could it be a trap? It's beautiful." Naruto retorted. He reached up to touch it, inches from his fingertips. He decided to ignore Ed's complaints, drawing his fingers closer. As soon as his fingertips touched the brilliant diamond, it turned into a liquid-like substance. It flowed freely into his skin, iluminating it, giving Naruto a feeling of immense happiness and knowledge. He felt as if he could do anything. It flowed the his veins, up his hand and arms and into his shoulder. It traveled a short distance, reached his heart, then faded away. Naruto suddenly felt more in tune with the earth and environment around him, as if it was his, or it was some kind of gift. The feeling faded just like the diamond did, and then it was gone. "Naruto? Are you ok?" Ed asked, precariously approaching him.

"I'm fine. The crystal just dissolved into me or something. I felt funny at first, but I'm fine now." Naruto replied. He felt sort of refreshed after touching the crystal.

"Dissolved? That's kind of odd. Well, we can worry about it later. We need to get Al taken care of." With that, Ed walked back over to Al and Naruto followed. It took them several hours to haul the massive suit of armor home but they did it. They entered the house and laid Al gently on the bed. They were both exhausted and Naruto returned to his room and fell asleep on his bed. He drifted off, curious about the crystal...


	8. Awakening Rain

Naruto awoke the next day feeling stiff. The mattress and sheets beneath him were comforting, but his muscles ached, and he had several bruises that were sore. The shutters on his windows were left open and a warm, cloudy day waited for him outside. He got up and put on some fresh clothes. He tiptoed out of the room and walked down the hallway to Ed and Al's room. The door creaked slightly as he propped it open, peaking in. Ed was snoring loudly and Al was fast asleep. He ran downstairs and wrote a note that said:

_Be back in a bit.  
__-Naruto_

He put the note on the floor in front of the door so they would see it if they happened to wake. He crept downstairs, the steps creaking loudly as he went. He entered the kitchen and grabbed an apple, munching on it hungrily as he walked outside. The clouds loomed in the sky above, yet still filtering in enough light for it to be relatively bright outside. Their dark patterns swirled about with the wind up too high for Naruto to feel.

He had no idea of his destination, but he jogged slowly due East. The clouds above got slightly darker as he ran, and the wind picked up a little. Not too cold, just enough for a cool breeze. He ran kept jogging until he reached the end of the town, then slowed to a walk. The view before him was beautiful. Hills rolled up and down, covered with the rain-soaked grass. Animals were scurrying across the grass, or in many cases flying, to gather food before the storm that their animal instinct told them was coming long before the clouds appeared. The wind blew harder, causing the long grasses and bushes to sway on the hills. He could hear the squirrels screeching at one another, the birds chirping, and the wind as it howled past his ears. He felt like he hadn't been this focused in years, and he could hear every living thing in the vicinity. He focused on the noise, trying to identify each individual sound. Suddenly, he was distracted by the rain drops that began to land upon his skin. Then more came, beginning to soak his clothes. Then buckets came, downpouring around him. The animals reached an eery quite, then CRACK! The lightning flashed in the sky above and thunder boomed quickly. Now all Naruto could hear was the rain and the wind. He realized just how fast his clothes were soaked, and decided he should probably get home.

He willed his legs to move, but something was wrong. They didn't obey. He tried to reach down to move a leg using his arms, but they were disabled too. What's going on? Thought Naruto. His body went totally rigid, and he had no control. The rain in front of him had begun to swirl and mesh, forming a large ball of water. The water grew progressively larger until it was a good sixty feet tall. Then it exploded. The cold water splashed into Naruto's face and eyes, blinding him momentarily. When his vision cleared, a living, breathing being of water emerged before him. The water rushed rapidly throughout a pair of legs and arms, a torso, and a head. Upon that head, two blaring red eyes had fixated themselves on Naruto. Those same red eyes as before... Thought Naruto. A hole opened below the eyes of the beast, a dark cave amidst the crystal clearness of the water. "I am Hydrolos," The hulking waterfall of a beast announced as thunder boomed in the sky. "I will crush you with the mighty torrent of water." Hydrolos uttered a deep growl. There was one problem for Naruto. He still couldn't move. Hydrolos was clearly preparing for an attack, and he couldn't get out of the way. Naruto fought, and willed his right arm to move. He felt it quiver, but it didn't move. He focused more, pouring his energy into his arm. It shook violently, then broke free. After his arm was free, he focused on different parts of his body, settting them free. Each one freed was easier than the one before. Hydrolos launched a pulse of water at Naruto, spraying it out of his mouth. Naruto had just barely finished, and jumped high up into the air just in time. He saw the water crash violently into the ground below him, obliterating the rock and grass. Reaching the peak of his jump, Naruto reached for three shurikens and threw them all at once at Hydrolos. Hydrolos hadn't anticipated this attack, and the shurikens cut through his watery neck, sending Hydrolos' head to the ground, and it splashed into the air. "Take that you overgrown waterfall" Screamed Naruto.

Naruto felt relieved the battle was finally over. He turned around and began to walk the other direction when he heard a noise. Rushing water. He turned around just in time to witness Hydrolos' body reform a head. When the head was complete, two red eyes formed. "There is more than one way to _successfully_ kill an enemy, Naruto." Hydrolos said, another mouth forming. This surprised Naruto. How did this thing know his name? And what's it doing? Giving me advice? Naruto contemplated. Before he had more time to think, Hydrolos swung it's watery arm horizontally towards Naruto. Naruto jumped, but the edge of the arm smashed into his feet. As the arm swung by, Naruto was sent plummeting to the ground, spinning on the way down until he crashed onto his back. He felt the pain, and knew there was nothing broken. Just a big bruise tomorrow. He got up and considered his options. He couldn't seem to find a way to beat Hydrolos, his attacks didn't work.

He was lost in his thoughts when a wave of water smashed into him. He was flung back a good ten feet, sliding in the newly formed mud. He was now covered in mud, and it made his clothes even heavier. "Naruto. Focus. Believe in the power around you." Hydrolos said. Naruto thought about this. Why was Hydrolos helping him? It's probably just a trap. Naruto tried to get up and made it to his kneeswhen he slipped and fell back into the growing mud. I might as well give it a try, nothing else I'm doing is working.

He closed his eyes. He attempted to block out any sound made by the outside world. After about a minute, the sound of the rain stopped. Then the thunder. Now the squishing sound of the mud disappeared. He was alone in a pitch black darkness. He could no longer feel his surrounding wet, muddy clothes. It was his mind. Alone, in a vast dark space. He saw a glimmer of light. Then the light grew and flowed towards him. That's when he saw it. The diamond. That diamond that absorbed into his veins after he defeated Gaialor. It made him feel heavy, but a comfortable, controlling, wise kind of heavy. He opened his eyes and his senses rushed back to him. He was more aware now of the mud around him, and he felt as if his energy was limitless. He surged himself far up into the air, eye level with Hydrolos. He looked down and saw he was standing on a morphing glob of mud. He felt the immense power of Gaialor before him, surging through his body like adrenaline. Before his mind decided what he was going to do, rocks and boulders and more globs of mud ascended into the air around him. He felt each individual molecule of every earthen aspect around him. He felt controlling and powerful. He launched the rocks and boulders rapidly towards Gaialor. As each one crashed into Hydrolos, it made a satisfying crash sound. Hydrolos pulsated, growing weaker as the rocks crashed into him, draining his power. Naruto floated downwards on his mud cloud as Hydrolos shrank. When Hydrolos' head finally hit the ground, Naruto rushed towards it.

There he stood next to Hydrolos' remaining body part. He was about to crush it when he hesistated. Hydrolos had helped him. He was supposed to destroy Naruto. Instead, he awakened the power inside of him. Before his thoughts continued, Hydrolos' speaking interrupted them. "Finish me... Water... Water is eternal." Naruto understood this as Hydrolos said it, observing how Hydrolos' body was slowly beginning to collect more water, regenerating. Some of the water trickled to the side of Naruto, forming a small puddle. Then it began to morph and turn circular. More and more water poured away from Hydrolos, joining the circular object. It began to take the shape of a small pot, or a small vase. When the top was formed, a blue cork was formed next to the small bottle. With the last of the bottle finished, taking an ornate design, the last parts of Hydrolos collected together and began to drain themselves into the small bottle. As this happened, Hydrolos whispered his last words, "I have forged this with the strength of ten thousand oceans. My advice to you is this: When the temperature is hottest, and you are thirstiest, eat." As the last drops of Hydrolos dripped inside the bottle, his voice faded. The cork plugged itself into the top of the bottle, then it began to float towards Naruto's hand. Naruto snatched the bottle out of the air and fastened it to his belt.

He got up as the rain stopped and the clouds in the sky began to fade. It was deathly quiet for a moment until the sun poked through the clouds, and birds began chirping and squirrels chittering. He felt exhausted, and the connection to the earth around him faded. Didn't disappear, just faded away as if it was waiting for something to happen before awakening once more. Naruto trudged home, feeling exhilerated and utterly tired simultaneously. When he reached Ed's house it was about high noon, and a cool breeze was blowing. He took a step up onto the patio in front of the house, and felt his mind begin to finally run out of energy. His eyes closed and he felt a distant pain as he collapsed onto the wooden patio.


	9. Leaving

Naruto felt a distant shove. Then again. And again. He heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He groggily opened his eyes, a blur of colors swimming around him. His eyes focused and he could make out Ed and Al standing in front of him. He was lying in bed, so they must have moved him there. He heard a muffled sound again, then the words began to clear.

"Naruto? Naruto, are you ok?" Ed asked as Al brought him a glass of water. Naruto gulped it down thirstily before he uttered any words. "I think... I think so. You're never going to believe what happened." Naruto managed to say.

"Well that doesn't matter right now. You were lying face down on the front patio when we found you, absolutely covered in mud and soaking wet. Do you need something to eat? If not, I'd like you to get some more rest before you tell us anything. We don't want to cause unnecessary stress." Ed said, giving the empty water glass to Al.

"Al... Alright..." Naruto said before he began to fade again. Each time he blinked his eyes, the darkness seemed to last longer, and then finally he fell into deep sleep.

The next morning he woke up feeling rejuvenated, and he could focus better. He barely had time to take a foot out of bed and set it on the cold wooden floor before Ed came through the door. "And just where do you think you're going? You run off too much." He said, laughing. Naruto noticed that Ed had brought up a plate packed with food with him. "I got you some breakfast," Ed said, handing the plate and a fork to Naruto. "I figured you might want _something_ to eat considering you haven't eaten in two days."

All Naruto could manange was a swift "Thank you." before digging into the warm, delicious food. Ed walked out, so Naruto figured he wanted to talk later. He gorged on the fresh eggs and bacon, and could literally feel the protein returning to his body. There was also two pieces of bread with butter, and fresh strawberries and grapes on the side. He bit into the bread viciously, tearing it apart. The bread stuck in his teeth stubbornly, but he moved on anyway. The strawberries were almost sickly sweet, and the grapes exploded into a deep flavor as he bit down on them. He suddenly realized he was thirsty, and noticed a fresh glass of water on the bed-side table. He gulped it down quickly, sloshing all the way down and into his stomach, swirling about with the previously eaten foods. He set the glass and plate on the table and swung his legs out over the side of the bed. He slipped on his shoes and noticed he had fresh clothes on.

He felt bad for causing Ed and Al so much trouble. They had welcomed him into their home, fed him, gave him a warm place to sleep, and tried to help him. And what had he done in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He felt horrible, and vowed in his mind to return the favor one day, and to also be forever grateful to them. He took the plate, fork, and glass downstairs and set them on the counter. He noticed Ed and Al sitting at the dining table so he joined them.

"How was breakfast? Al's a great cook." Ed said, elbowing his brother gently.

"It was fantastic, thank you." He said to both Al and Ed.

"So what's this about you had something to tell us we'd never belive? You were out for a while, so it must've exhausted you." Ed said, staring curiously into Naruto's eyes.

"Well, you know how we fought Gaialor?"

"Uhhh, yes. It's not like I'd forget about it. It's only been _three_ days." Ed said jokingly.

"Well, I fought another one."

"Wait, _another _one? There's been more than one? Another one like Gaialor?" Ed said, surprised. Al gave Naruto an extremely surprised look too.

"Well, sort of. It wasn't _exactly_ like Gaialor. It's name this time was Hydrolos. It came to me in a massive rainstorm and controlled all the water. It used the water in my clothes and the rain to immobilize me. But the strange thing is. . . It helped me." Naruto explained slowly.

"It _helped_ you? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Wasn't it trying to kill you?" Ed was astounded.

"Well, I mean it _was_, but it almost seemed like it didn't want to. This is the part you won't believe. Remember that crystal thing we found after we deafeated Gaialor? Well, it turns out it's actually _inside_ me. Hydrolos told me to focus. Close my eyes and focus, and all of a sudden I could feel the tremendous power of the earth all around me. I can _control_ the earth." Naruto said confidently. Ed gave him a flabbergasted look, as if he had just gone crazy. "So you're telling me you can _control _the earth? How does that work?"

"I'm not sure, but it works and helped be defeat Hydrolos. Here, I'll show you." Naruto said. Naruto could see a small rock outside through the open window in the garden. He focused on it, willing it to move, and it leapt into the air, almost farther than he wanted it to. He hovered the rock over to the window, through it, and to the table where they were sitting. He willed it to float in front of Ed and spin at a slow constant. "How's that possible?" Ed nearly screamed.

"I don't know. But that's just the beginning. There's so much more I can do!" Naruto said excitedly. Ed took a few deep breaths. "Okay, so you can move rocks and stuff with your mind. We can figure out how later. So what happened when you defeated Hydrolos?"

"Well," Naruto said, lifting the bottle Hydrolos made and setting it on the table, "This is him." Both Ed and Al jumped back awkwardly in their seats. "When he almost died, he sacrificed himself to make this. He did it because he wanted to help me, and he would just regenerate using the water around him. So he poured everything he was made of into this bottle, which he also made. So he's not really defeated, just captured."

"So Hydrolos is in _there?_" Ed said, pointing at the strangely beautiful bottle on the table.

"Yes."

"Can he get out?"

"I don't think so. And even if he could, I don't think he would. He made it to help me. His last words were words of advice for me. He said: 'When the temperature is hottest, and you are thirstiest, eat.' It doesn't make much logical sense, but he was being truthful, he honestly wanted to help me." Naruto said, admiring the bottle. Before he said anything, Ed reached out and grabbed the bottle. He carefully took out the cork, and water slowly began to dribble down and over his hands. The water felt cool on Ed's hands, not like it would kill him. With some struggle, he got the cork back in and handed the bottle back to Naruto. Naruto then retied the bottle to his belt. "So, what are you going to do next?" Ed asked, looking him up and down.

Naruto wasn't expecting this question. He felt horrible for placing such a burden on Ed and Al. And he still wasn't sure what his next step would be. If he stayed here with Ed and Al, he would have friends who could help him, but he also happens to cause them a lot of trouble. He didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to stay and be a big pain in the neck either. He made his decision, and there was several moments of silence.

"I'm leaving." Naruto said flatly.

"What?" Ed nearly yelled.

"Why?" Asked Al.

"I think that I should go. You know, on my own. I know I have been a burden on you two, and I haven't done anything to pay you back. So, I've decided I'll go on my own. I only cause trouble for you anyway, and I don't want either of you getting hurt." Naruto said confidently.

"It's your choice to make." Ed said, showing no emotion.

"When are you planning on leaving?" Al said sadly.

"Probably today, as soon as I have my stuff packed up." They didn't say anything more to Naruto, so he walked upstairs and to his temporary room. He gathered his clothes, any weapons he had, and then proceeded in cleaning the room to spotlessness. He heard the closed door creak behind him and he turned around. Ed was standing their with a small brown bag in his hand. "You're going to need this." He said, walking over to Naruto and putting the bag in his hand. Naruto could feel the hard edges of many coins in the bag. Money. He was giving him money, even when they didn't have much. He fought back the tears in his eyes as they welled up, threatening to overflow. He quickly hugged Ed, and Ed hugged back. "Thank you." Naruto said, choking through the fighting tears. Naruto set the coins with the stuff he gathered on his bed. Ed turned to leave and said, "You should probably go before Al sees you. He gets a little emotional sometimes." He walked out, closing the door behind him. Naruto took a deep breath, calming the tears in his eyes. He gathered his stuff, and secured the money on the side of his belt, then deftly lept out the window.

The afternoon air was warm on his skin, and the sun shone brightly. There were birds on rooftops chirping loudly, and children playing nearby. The markets had already opened, and he could see people bustling further into town. He began his journey on more, only this time, alone.


	10. Argos

Naruto wasn't quite sure where to go after leaving Ed and Al, so he headed north. The wind was at his back, and he felt great. On his way through Septim, he noticed an old, ratty beggar on the side of the street. His face was extremely wrinkled, and he had dirty white hair and the beginnings of a grey beard. "Care to spare some change, sir?" He asked.

Naruto smiled and nodded, extending a hand full of coins from the bag Ed gave him. As the coins fell into the beggars hand, his eyes widened. Naruto had only given him enough to buy several meals, but apparently that was more than he'd gotten in a while. "Thank you kind sir! May your journey be blessed." The beggar said, struggling to get up, and then bowing to Naruto.

"You're welcome, and yours too." Naruto walked off, and felt even more wonderful. He loved to help people, and he would give the shirt off his back if it could assist someone.

The rest of Naruto's voyage through the northern part of Septim was sadly uneventful. He left the town, and could now see the mountains in the distance clearly for the first time. It was an awesome sight, the mountains tracing the horizon like a beautiful sculpture. It wasn't until now that Naruto realized how diversified the area in Seneca was. Septim was based in the middle of the surrounding area, with mountains to the north, a river to the south, a forest in the west, and rolling hills and plains in the east. He never thought he'd se so many different places all so close to one another.

He continued north, listening intently to the birds and small animals making noises all around him. Sure, he was different from what normally passes through here. But they were all so loud, almost angry sounding, as if something bad was going to happen. The noise faded after some more walking, so Naruto guessed he imagined it. He traveled further north until he saw a town up ahead and to the east. He had been walking for several hours and now the sun was setting, creating a orange glow in the distance.

He made it to the town's gates and saw two gruff looking guards looking right back at him. Almost instantly one of them asked, "What is your business here in Argos, traveler?"

"I'm just looking for a place to rest safely. I've walked quite a ways, and I wanted to stop and take a break before nightfall." Naruto replied politely.

"What is your name?" The guard asked.

"Naruto." Stated Naruto.

"Ah, a foreigner, I see..." The guard said as his smaller friend whispered something in his ear.

"So can I come in? I just need to find a place to sleep." Naruto said, starting to get irritated with these stubborn people.

"No," The guard said flatly, "Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you're willing to make a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Naruto didn't like where this was going.

"The good kind." The guard replied, grinning devilishly. "See this wall?" The guard said, pointing behind him. Naruto hadn't noticed it until now, but a massive stone wall encircled the town, and it must've been at least sixty feet tall. "If you can climb it, we'll let you in." He said.

"And if I can't?"

"Then you find someplace else to sleep, and leave us alone." He said, chuckling lightly with his friend."

This was an easy challenge for someone like Naruto, but he played dumb instead. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Oh, don't worry, there are _plenty_ of hand-holds once you get further up." He said, laughing again with his partner.

"Deal." Naruto said.

The laughing stopped suddenly. The guards weren't expecting this. "Oh, really? Then let's see you have a go." He said, smiling creepily again.

Naruto burst at full speed towards the wall, intensified the chakra in his feet, jumped, and landed solidly a few feet up the wall, continuing to run. He felt the guards' surprised looks on his back. He continued to run, but started to lose momentum more than half way up. He had to think quickly or he was going to fall. The guard lied obviously, there weren't any hand-holds up here, if not it was only worn smoother by the wind's touch. Wait. _Stone _wall.

Naruto called upon the power inside him, feeling the bond with earth tighten. His feet absorbed slightly into the surface, bonding with it. If anything, climbing the wall was extremely easy now, as it practically carried him up as he ran. Naruto wasn't going to go back down to the guards, so he jumped deftly over the wall once he reached the top and landed silently on the ground. No one in the beautiful town noticed him, as most were heading home for the night.

This town was absolutely gorgeous. Stone pathways and houses were lined with thick vines and blossoming flowers of every color imaginable. The torch lights that decorated the streets threw light on the plants and bricks, bringing out each individual color. This must be an extremely rich town, thought Naruto as a woman walked by, dressed in a dark purple silk. A fresh aroma struck Naruto's nose, almost bringing him instantly to a state of relaxation, it was the wonderfully intertwined smell of the various flowers, their scents dancing in the breeze. He walked along a stone pathway, suddenly distracted by the absolute awe of the city. The stone pathway led up a hill, so steadily he rose to the top. When he reached the top he gasped.

The area in front of him dipped slightly, revealing the entire city in one luxurious view. Houses of stone large and small flourished on the hills, and extremely green trees and bushes avidly grew alongside them. He could see the bright torch lights that speckled the city, lighting the beautiful pathways. Movement above attracted his attention. Hundreds, thousands of fireflies began their descent on the town, swaying in the moderate wind, lighting the fresh air as they went. As they continued there descent, Naruto heard a slight ruffle about ten feet to his left. He looked over and saw the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, far surpassing Sakura back home. She was standing almost as if she was posing, watering a large stone pot of plants. Her skin looked exceptionally smooth, and she looked to be about Naruto's age, maybe slightly older. She had black, straight hair that followed the contours of her head and neck, down to her shoulders. She was wearing a white silk dress, that seemed so spotless, it repelled dirt. Absentmindedly, he began to walk towards her.

It seemed to take years as he slowly walked over to the girl, entranced by her. He wasn't sure what he'd say when a noise interrupted his racing thoughts. "Can I help you?" The girl asked politely, turning towards Naruto, staring straight into his eyes. The sight was breathtaking. Her eyes were a brilliant violet, and they shone with such brightness, Naruto could've sworn they were lights. Everything about her was perfect. Suddenly, his mind kicked back into gear and realized that he was supposed to respond to her question, when he felt slight tickles on his skin. "They seem to like you." Said the girl, giggling quietly. Naruto was almost frightened when he first looked, but then came to the realization that they were only fireflies. Hundreds of them. They surrounded him, some landing lightly on his clothes and skin, glowing brightly in the growing night.

"Uh, yeah." Was all Naruto could manage. He was utterly distracted by her. He couldn't think, couldn't move, and didn't know what to say.

"So where are you from? You don't look like you're from around here." She said with her soft voice.

"It's a long story where I actually came from, but I just came here from Septim." He said, stammering half way through the sentence.

"I've never been there. What's it like?" She said, honestly curious.

"Naruto jumped around the words. "Smaller. A lot smaller. No walls. No flowers. No yo--," Naruto caught the word just barely before he made a fool of himself.

"What was that? That last part?" She asked, looking back to the flowers she had been tending to.

"Oh, I said there's no youth. There's a lot of old people." He caught the mistake and barely replaced it.

"Oh." She said, sounding almost disappointed. There was an awkward silence for a while, both of them just standing there, while she tended to the flowers again. "You're lucky." She said, smiling and turning back to look at him.

"Why?" He asked.

"That only happens once, maybe twice a year."

"What does?" Naruto asked, confused still.

"Those fireflies. They only come into town once a year. The elders here say that if the fireflies are attracted to you, you are blessed and good fortune will open itself up to you." She said as the fireflies slowly drifted away.

"Huh. That's good then I guess." Naruto said. He still wasn't sure what to say. The sun had already completely set, and the moon had ascended, peeking over the walls of the city, as if it were watching them. It cast a smooth glow across them, reflecting slightly off the stones on the pathways and houses. He was still completely speechless when her beautiful voice broke the silence again. "What's your name?"

"Naruto. And yours?" He said, starting to feel ever-so-slightly more comfortable.

"Adonia." She said. The name rang like a bell in Naruto's ears, filling his head with the thought of her. He blinked his eyes, attemting to clear his mind without making it too obvious.

"You look exhausted, and you must be starving. Would you like to come to my house? I have a spare bedroom, if you'd like." Adonia said, almost shyly. Naruto jumped at the thought of this, but didn't want to sound too eager. He hesitated a moment, then said, "I guess that'd be okay." He said, trying not to sound too excited.

"Just follow me then." She said with a happy tone. She left the plants and began walking down the pathway that led further into the big part of the wondrous city. Naruto gazed at her as her dress fluttered slightly in the breeze, but then realized that might come off strange. He looked away, out to the city. Without looking at her, her scent nearly drove him mad. She smelled like an expansive field of fresh flowers, mixed with a sweetness that tickled the nose. "This way." She said, turning off onto a path to the right. They bathed in moonlight as they walked down the path, and she slowed to a slow walk. She turned to a fairly large house and said, "Wait here." She went through a heavy wooden door that creaked with age, and closed it behind her. "Adonia? Adonia, is that you?" He heard a gruff voice say.

"Yes father, I'm home now." He heard Adonia call back. "I've brought a friend." Adonia added.

"A friend, you say? Why on earth are you making friends at this time of night?" The gruff voice asked. Naruto heard Adonia respond, talking for a few minutes, but he couldn't make out the words, so he waited patiently outside in the cool night air. The door creaked open quickly and a massive beast of a man stepped out. The muscles in his arms bulged like ripe peaches, and the veins in his hairy arms looked more like rivers. "So you're Naruto?" He asked, that familiar gruff voice.

Naruto was scared to respond, but decided he should anyway. "Y-yes, sir." He said.

"Well then..." The man said, cracking his knuckles. Naruto was nearly ready to run as the man turned around and opened the wooden door wide. "Welcome to our home. My name is Alexios, and I'm the city's blacksmith." He said, suddenly changing moods and smiling brightly. Naruto could see the relation of his face to his daughter's. He walked back in the brightly lit room, so Naruto followed. Before they exited the short hallway in the house, Alexios lowered his head and whispered to Naruto. "Look, kid, whoever is fine by my lovely daughter is fine by me, but if you so much as lay a hand on her, you'll wish you would've run when you met me." Naruto went rigid as he heard this, and Alexios laughed loudly then, hiding the previous warning. "This one's got manners too, Adonia!" He called to her as he led Naruto out of the hallway and into a kitchen-like area.

There was a table with four chairs around it, and several places where food could be cooked in the room. "Have a seat," Alexios said, smiling again, "It's our pleasure." Naruto did as he was told and found that the wooden chairs were surprisingly comfortable. He sat at the chair furthest away from the entrance to the kitchen, almost against the wall. Adonia walked in the room, and she had apparently exchanged her white dress for a violet silk skirt and a white blouse-like shirt. Her arms and the bottom of her legs now shown, and they were tan, but still had some whiteness to them. Alexios walked further into the kitchen and began preparing food. Adonia took the seat to his left, smiling at him. "So what are you doing in Argos?" Alexios asked, looking up from cooking. The utensils looked like toothpicks in his hands, and wondered how he had managed to use them efficiently. "I was actually looking for a place to rest on my way north." Naruto said. He wasn't going to lie, there was nothing to hide. "What were you heading north for?" Alexios pressed. Naruto hesitated. "I'm not sure. I was trying to find myself, I suppose. I'm not really sure why, but I just thought I should head north." Naruto explained.

Alexios gave a hearty laugh. "A good sense of self-direction is always a good thing." He said, continuing to cook. Adonia looked at her father with such indescribable love, and Alexios loved her very much, the bond between them was obviously strong. "Follow me, I'll show you around the house." Adonia said. They left the table and Adonia led him around their elegant house. To the right of the kitchen turned out to be the guest room Naruto was going to be sleeping in, to the left of the kitchen is a room where Adonia slept, and her father had the largest room upstairs. They also had a bathroom on Adonia's side of the house, and a garden out the back kitchen door. They finished touring the house and came back to the kitchen, sitting down. Delicious smelling food already covered the table, and Alexios was there, waiting. "My father's a wonderful cook." Adonia said, smiling at her father as he laughed, then taking a bite from the plate in front of her. "You only think my cooking's good because it's the only thing to eat around here." Alexios said, giving a long laugh. They settled into the food, grabbing, munching, smelling, and tasting everyhting on the table. The main part of the meal was a pork roast, served with corn and peas, and a scrumptious sauce, and mashed potatoes on the side. This was the first decent meal Naruto had in days, so he scarfed down food like it was the last meal he'd ever have.

When the food was finished, Alexios collected the plates. "You two don't worry about cleaning up. Adonia, show Naruto to his room and some fresh clothes. Then we should all get some sleep, it's pretty late." He said. Adonia led Naruto back to the guest room. There was a large bed in the middle against the wall, with windows on either side. There was an end table next to the bed, and a dresser at the foot of the bed. A cabinet made from old oak was lined up against a wall, and several rugs covered the floor. "Feel free to use anything in here," Adonia said, "It's all empty."

"Thank you. You and your father have been extremely hospitable towards me." Naruto said, greatful for finding a place to sleep for the night.

"If there's anything you need, just let me know." She said as she left the room, closing the wooden door Naruto hadn't noticed behind her. He changed into the fresh clothes, and set the old ones on the dresser. He stashed his shurikens, kunai, and the little black smoke bombs securely in the cabinet, finding a key and locking it. He then hid the key under the dresser, out of sight. Relaxed and full of warm food, he got into the large bed. The pillows were filled with down, and the mattress itself seemed to be made out of clouds. He quickly drifted off to sleep, Adonia appearing in his mind.


	11. Dawn's Kiss

Naruto's eyes jumped open as he sensed a presence in the room. He looked towards the wooden door that was now open as a figure walked in. It was Adonia. He glanced towards the windows and discovered it was an hour or two before dawn. "Naruto?" Adonia whispered as she stepped quietly across the room. Naruto closed his eyes and ignored her the first time so that she would think he was asleep. She would persist if it was important. He felt the touch of her hand on his shoulder as she bent down near him. She gently shook him and said, "Naruto, are you awake?"

Naruto grumbled a soft, indecipherable reply, hoping to convince her he was groggy. Naruto opened his eyes and found a pair of luminous violet ones staring right back at him. "What do you need Adonia? I was sleeping if you hadn't noticed." Naruto said, joking. She smiled and said, "I've got something I want to show you. Now shhh, and put some real clothes on." She stood up and backed a few feet away from the bed so Naruto could get up. Naruto slipped of the bed covers and put his feet out on cold floor below. He leaned his weight on them and the floorboard let out a loud groan. Adonia winced, then let out a small, hushed laugh.

Naruto walked to where he set the clothes from the previous day. Adonia didn't leave, despite his subtle motions, so he turned around, stripped down to his boxers, then put on the old clothes, feeling her eyes search his back and legs. He skipped the shoes because Adonia wasn't wearing any. He turned around and looked at her. She signaled with her hands to follow her. They left Naruto's temporary room and walked quickly to the kitchen. He followed her out the kitchen back door into the garden, where the cool grass fought it's way through his toes. The air felt fairly cool, but not cold, and this was Naruto's favorite temperature range. He followed her to the right of the garden where she turned to look at the wall of the house. Naruto saw vines, but not much else. Adonia pointed upwards with her finger, then at the stone wall. She started up the wall, deftly climbing the thick vines. Naruto followed after she got a few feet up, and the ascent was surprisingly easy. He glanced up, then instantly realized that was a mistake. He forgot the certain someone above him was wearing a skirt. He quickly looked back down at the wall and vines. He heard a muffled scream as a vine Adonia gripped broke, and she came sliding down. He reacted quickly and caught her with the arm he freed in just enough time. Adonia mouthed a "Thanks" and smiled at him, starting up the vines again.

As they reached the top, Adonia disappeared over the corner of the roof before Naruto could rise completely. He finished climbing and hopped onto the flat surface of the roof. Then he spotted her a few feet away, next to a large mass of foliage that had grown on the roof. "If you crouch down, there's a hole through all this bush. Follow me inside." She said, crouching down and entering the new found hole. Naruto followed her, being attacked by the vicious branches that surrounded the hole like an army. He saw Adonia stand up in front of him so he followed suit. They were in a circle in the center of the bush mass, with a radius of about twelve feet. There was a blanket on the stones, and Adonia sat down on it. She folded her legs underneath her and looked up. "Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, gazing above. Naruto looked up and only now noticed the hundreds of brilliant stars that illuminated the sky. Some of them seemed to twinkle, shaking their magical star dust off. "Wow, I've never seen so many at once." Naruto said, now staring at the stars in unison with Adonia. He looked back down and joined her on the blanket. Not right next to her, but a foot or two away. He immediately reverted to laying on his back so his neck wouldn't cramp. He glanced over at Adonia, then back up at the stars. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her lay down next to him. "I love coming up here. My father doesn't know about it, so when I'm sad or frustrated and want to get away, I go up here. It helps me clear my head." Adonia said. Naruto didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. It was quiet for a while, and then Adonia broke the silence. "So what are you _actually_ here for?"

"I'm on a quest, to put it simply. It's a long story." Naruto said.

"It's not like we don't have time. Please tell me." She begged, insisting.

"Alright." Naruto said, finally agreeing. He thought he heard a small, concealed squeal of excitement come from Adonia, but ignored it. He explained everything from when he met Ed and Al, to the river visits, to the midnight attacker, Gaialor, and Hydrolos, and ended with him showing up in Argos. She hadn't interrupted him the entire time, and he was beginning to wonder what she thought. "So you're like some kind of hero or something?" She asked curiously.

"Well, I wouldn't say a hero. I'm just a normal person." Naruto said flatly.

"So where are you going next?"

"I don't know, I haven't the slightest clue."

"Why not stay here for a while until you figure it out?" Adonia asked, on her side, looking at him now. This question shocked Naruto, and he wasn't prepared with an answer. He turned on his side, looking back at her. "Why?" Naruto asked. Adonia looked a little hurt after he asked this. "Because I... Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Because you what? Come on, don't say something and then not finish it. Why do you want me to stay here?" He asked, his questions pressing her.

"I refuse to answer that question." Adonia said firmly, looking away now.

"Really?"

"No," She said, giving in, "I don't know. I just... I can feel something. Between us. Like a connection or something." As soon as Adonia said this, Naruto knew what she meant. Some kind of force between them was extremely strong, and Naruto could feel it too. He wasn't sure _what_ it was, but it was definitely _there_. "I feel it too." Naruto said, surprising himself.

"Really?" Adonia looked surprised and happy simultaneously.

"Yeah, but I can't explain it either." Naruto said dumbfoundedly.

"Oh." Adonia acted like Naruto should know what it was, but Naruto wasn't going to deceit her by lying.

"So I really can stay? I won't be imposing or anything?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

"Of course! You're welcome to stay as long as you like." She said, smiling now.

"What about your father?"

"Oh, he'll be fine, don't worry about it. He might act big and tough because he's a blacksmith, but he's a big softie." She admitted.

"Alright then, I'll stay." Naruto said. He was happy he didn't have to continue moving from place to place. He needed somewhere like this to get his head straight. Adonia didn't reply, just laid back down and looked at the stars again. Naruto followed suit, feeling the coolness of the stone penetrate the blanket underneath him. He just now noticed the smell the bushes around him gave off. It was a sweet smell, and nearly smelled the same as pine tree sap tasted. It was an interesting aroma, and intertwined within it was the scent of some randomized berries on the bushes. He went back to focusing on the brightly twinkling stars. The night sky had developed a small array of clouds scattered throughout the stars, sometimes seeming so close they touched. They weren't storm clouds, just happy, ambling clouds that floated along minding their own business. As Naruto focused on the world around him, he failed to notice Adonia sneak closer to him on the blanket. He turned his head and now noticed Adonia was much closer than before, maybe only a few inches from him.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Adonia asked, now with her head turned towards him.

"Nothing yet. If you're up to it, could you show me around town?" Naruto asked. He was still confused as to where everything was in this place. "I would lo--, I mean, sure. That'd be fun." Adonia said.

Yet another awkward silence settled between them.

Naruto sat up, looking around. He thought he heard something. Adonia sat up too, only even closer this time. He turned to look at her, and discovered her face was only inches from his. Her beautiful violet eyes that seemed to light up the dark, her perfectly smooth skin reflecting the moon's aura, her long, soft hair swaying in the breeze, her lips only slightly pulled apart from one another. In a moment's time, Naruto's lips were suddenly locked with hers.


	12. Flying High

Naruto was just as surprised as Adonia was when he pulled his lips away from hers. He could still feel the warmth from her lips in the cool night air. He wasn't sure why he did it. He also hoped to god she wasn't going to be angry with him. He also felt stupid as hell. He couldn't remember his thoughts just before, so he had no intention. The only thing he knew that remained in his mind was the fact that he felt the connection between them implode and intensify when it happened. He looked at her eyes, trying to contemplate her stare. She definitely wasn't angry, possibly sad, happy, or confused, but at least not definitely angry. Now Naruto was confused.

Adonia gave a gentle laugh then said, "What was that for?"

"I'm not sure." Stammered Naruto. Suddenly Adonia leaned in towards him and kissed him again, with her hands on his shoulders. "Well now we're even." She sat back down, laughing. Naruto joined in, and soon they were laughing like a couple of maniacs. They finally managed to settle down, and it went quiet. They sat silently and looked at each other directly in the eyes. Naruto felt better than he had in years months at this moment. He definitely liked this girl better than either Sakura or Hinata back home. The two girls back home were too shy, Adonia had control. She had her own inspirations and motives, and wasn't afraid to express them. He liked that.

"My father's going to be waking up soon. He wakes up early to start up the forge. We should probably go back inside and go back to sleep for a while. He won't bother us." Adonia said. Naruto was still in shock from the fact that she kissed him back. It caught him off guard. "Alright." He managed.

They didn't say anything else and crawled back out of the bushes and back into the house. Naruto was just settling back into the comfortable bed when he heard Alexios walk downstairs. Just in time. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until his head plumped on the pillow. Sleepiness hit him like an unstoppable tidal wave.

"Are you going to sleep _all_ day?" Adonia asked, waking Naruto. He groggily opened his eyes which felt as if they weighed several thousand tons. He glanced outside and regretted it after the daylight sun seared his retinas. He slammed his eyes shut, trying to close out the outside world. Then he remembered earlier that morning and was instantly revived. He threw the bedsheets off and stepped onto the warm wood below. Then he suddenly realized he was only wearing boxers after undressing before he went back to bed. He felt Adonia's eyes on him and Naruto's face turned bright red. He ran to the other side of the room, attempting to rapidly put his pants on. During this escapade, he tripped and hit the floor with a thud. He landed on his elbow, which would now be sore, and Adonia was laughing at him. She walked over, picked up his shirt, and threw it on his head, blinding him. "You're going to need that." Adonia said sarcastically, walking out of the room. Naruto struggled to his feet, then put the pants and shirt on. He unlocked the cabinet and put his shurikens and kunai in his belt, then locked it back up and hid the key.

Adonia walked back in a minute later with two plates of delicious looking food. She gave one to Naruto, then sat on his bed, motioning for him to do the same. He followed suit and sat on the bed next to her. He looked down at the plate and noticed the insurmountable amount of fruit piled on top of it. Chopped pieces of fresh watermelon, strawberries, honeydew, bananas, apples, grapes, pears, and apricots awaited his hungry, grumbling stomach. He noticed Adonia eating, so he began to scarf it down himself. The watermelon was his favorite, and it seemed to melt and fall apart in his mouth as he chewed. The strawberries were bittersweet, and dissolved quickly as he chomped down on them. The food overwhelmed his senses, piling tastes in his mouth and throwing scents up his nose so scrumptious it made him want to scream. He was sad when he finished the food, but his stomach was full and content. For now.

"We eat a lot of fruit here, in case you haven't noticed. It grows really well here in Argos, so the majority of the townsfolk live off of it. We have all kinds, so we never really get sick of it or anything. Plus, you wouldn't believe all the dishes you can make with fruit." Adonia said, finishing her plate off. Before Naruto could defy her, she took both plates and headed for the kitchen. He followed her, and when she put the dishes in the sink, she turned around. "Where do you want to go today?" Adonia asked, glancing outside.

"I'm not sure. I think a tour of the town would be fun." Naruto said.

"Alright, let's do that then."

They headed for the front door and looked outside in the beautiful sunlight. The city was even more gorgeous when the sun's rays lit up the flowers and streets, bringing each individual color bouncing to life. Every flower on every wall or road in every street bloomed, and released a heavenly aroma. Naruto looked at Adonia and her skin seemed to glow fiercely in the sunlight, it's only fiery contender. "You ready?" Adonia asked, distracting him.

"Oh. Uh, yeah." He said. She led the way and she showed him the neighbors houses, then brought him further into the city, waving to people as she went. She pointed out the main market, and several of the specialty shops. They went through every district in the city, and you could see the difference of wealth between the houses. Nobody was poor or homeless, and all of the structures were fairly large, so the wealth in the city was well spread out. The majority of the flowers and bushes varied on each street, so the scenery never got old. She mentioned some of the guards houses on top of the city walls. Naruto asked how they got up there, and she explained that one of the greatest architects that ever lived in that city built stairs in between the outer and inner city walls for which the guards to travel.

"So now that you know where and what everything is, what would you like to do?" Adonia asked. It was a few hours past noon now, so they still had several hours before sunset.

"I'm not sure, and you've done plenty for me, so now it's your turn to pick, and I'll be the slave." Naruto said jokingly.

"Well, there is one thing..." Adonia said, trailing off.

"What?"

"Oh it's nothing. Never mind."

"No seriously, what is it?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I was... Kind of... Wondering if you could show me some of those powers you said you had." She said in a small voice, looking at the ground.

"Sure! No problem." Naruto said.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up as she looked at him.

"Why not? But we should probably go somewhere that's less... In public. Might freak people out, you know?"

"Oh, of course! Follow me." She said, turning the other direction. They walked off towards on of the city walls and into a small forest, then into an even smaller clearing. "so what exactly can you do?" Adonia asked.

"I'm not sure, I've never tested the limits." Naruto replied. He honestly never tried, he was just happy that the power could help him out of dangerous situations.

"Well? Just try something?" Adonia asked.

Naruto was already one step ahead of her request. He had focused his power on the earth beneath her, and was now bringing it slowly into the air, silently. The rocks that fell from the mound were easily caught before they made a noise and placed back in Adonia's floating mound. "Why are you just standing there, staring?" Adonia asked, looking unimpressed.

"I'm not. Look down." Naruto said smugly. Adonia glanced down and suddenly saw that the patch of earth she was standing on now floated a couple feet above the ground. She let out a muffled scream as her hand cupped over her mouth. "Are you ok?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine, just surprised. Can you.... um.... Put me down now?" She asked, looking warily at the ground. Naruto carefully set the pile back into the hole, meshing the dirt back together once more. Adonia, now ground level, walked over to him. "That was amazing! How do you do that?" She asked excitedly.

"I don't know. I can just feel some sort of energy, and I focus it towards what I want to do." Naruto said.

"What else can you do?" Adonia asked. She was obviously very excited about this. Naruto wasn't that energetic, but he decided it was probably because he'd gotten used to it. "This." He replied. He focused the energy again, this time it flowed freely, bounded within his body. About a five foot radius of dirt and rocks around Naruto and Adonia began to lift, carrying them both into the air. Adonia quickly rushed in and put her arms around Naruto. "You won't fall," Naruto said, "And even if you do, I can catch you." He said as he swirled a small gathering of dirt around in the air. They both held each other as the rock rose further, about fifteen feet in the air now. Nobody in town seemed to notice, or even care. "Don't go too high." Adonia warned. "The guards might see you."

"Good point. Hold on tight." He said, ignoring her warning. He quickly increased the velocity of the rock mound they were on top of, shooting them upwards. They rose even faster and accelerated, feeling the weight of their bodies' being pushed to the ground. They cleared the wall, and several guards felt the rush of wind and looked over the wall. Too late. Naruto and Adonia were already high above them. "Oh my..." Adonia managed to say. The view from so high was fantastic. They could see the whole city below, and the surrounding outside the walls of the city. They could see large mountains north and off in the distance. "This would probably be a good idea, just in case." Naruto said, willing some of the dirt in the mound into a fence-like structure that surrounded the circumference of the dirt-circle. Adonia reached out experimentally and touched the fence. It was solid. It looked like the dirt swirled and constantly moved, but it was solid. "Now where would you like to go?" Naruto asked, beaming into the sun. He had no idea he could do this with his powers, and it astounded him. "Anywhere." Adonia said, smiling brightly. Naruto looked of in the distance at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and it would be dark in a few hours.

"Let's try this..." He said, making the dirt pile nearly divebomb outside the city walls. They accelerated quickly to the ground where Naruto promptly changed directions and began speeding along about ten feet off the ground. They were moving at an incredible speed, creating gusts of wind everywhere they went. The grass and bushes beneath them shook violently, and once hidden animals now ran many directions. Naruto pushed their mound even faster, and the foliage below was now a blur. He looked at Adonia and she was absolutely bewildered at the sight. "This is amazing..." Adonia said, staring at the ground, then back at the quickly approaching distance. Naruto willed the pile to slow, and it did. As it progressively lost speed, it arched upward into the sky. Naruto parked it several hundred feet off the ground and made it spin, almost slow enough the rotation wasn't visible. Naruto stood up, and Adonia joined him. "This seems so unreal... When you told me about this, I actually doubted you. I didn't think it was possible." Adonia said,

"What reason would I have to lie?" Naruto asked. He was confused by her previous statement. "Well, I mean, I guess you wouldn't. It just didn't seem plausible." Adonia said, gazing out on the horizon, leaning against the dirt fence.

"Anything's possible if you put your mind to it." Naruto said.

Adonia just smiled at him. She didn't say anything else, so Naruto began taking them back home to the city. After a few minutes, they reached the city walls. The ascended, flew over quickly, and then descending to the ground below where Naruto had removed the dirt. He merged the fence back into the ground, then placed the dirt where it had been, undisturbed before he borrowed it. Adonia began walking hom, and Naruto followed her.

They stepped inside the house, and they heard Alexios holler, "Are you guys hungry?"

"Yes, father." Adonia said, entering the kitchen. Naruto suddenly felt tired, and didn't really pay attention to what it was they ate. He said thanks and good night, then entered his room, closing the door. After he was in bed, he heard the door creak open. Adonia walked in, and she was now in her night clothes as well. "Thank you." She said, stepping closer.

"You don't need to thank me. I had a lot of fun." Naruto said, giving her a warm smile. Adonia walked closer and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Naruto." She said, walking out. Naruto could still feel the presence of her kiss on his cheek when he fell asleep.


	13. Argos' Fall

Naruto awoke to the smell and repeated sound of rain outside. He guessed that Adonia and Alexios were still asleep considering the absence of noise coming from any of the house. He sat and listened for a while. He wasn't paranoid, or worried about anything. He just really listened to each plinking sound that the raindrops made as they came down on the stones and flowers outside. Each one seemed to have a different tone, and they formed a melody in his head, flowing freely throughout his mind. The melody continued to play, forming a serenade of beautiful tones and accents. When the music seemed to reach a sudden climax, a flash and then thunder boomed in the sky, just above Argos. After the bolt, the music faded away, and Naruto left his unintentional meditational state.

Lighting continued to flash as thunder growled viciously. The rain seemed gentle enough, and the wind was blowing a little. Naruto quietly slipped on his clothes. The door in his room always creaks, so he snuck out the window. When his body protruded from the house, the rain hit it like target practice. Immediately, Naruto felt the coolness of the rain's temperature. The sky was filled with black clouds, and lightning arced within them.

Naruto looked around and saw something that made him realize the black clouds weren't clouds at all. It was smoke. The city was on fire! The screams from children and their mothers' suddenly became clear as they began running by. Naruto dashed back into Alexios' home. He ran upstairs, towards Alexios' room and charged through the door. "Alexios! Alexios, wake up! The city is burning! We need to get out of here!" Naruto screamed to Alexios, now awakening. Alexios got up and said, "This had better not be a joke, Naruto." He looked out the second story window and saw the screeching people. "Dear gods, what has happened to Argos? We must wake Adonia!" As he finished getting dressed, he followed Naruto downstairs to Adonia. "Adonia! Adonia! You must wake!" Alexios bellowed. They reached Adonia, and her eyes had just barely opened when Alexios pulled her out of bed. "The city is on fire! We need to leave!" Alexios said, gethering her clothes for her.

"Naruto! Go watch for the fire outside and tell me when it gets close!" Alexios yelled over the screaming people outside.

"Yessir!" Naruto left for the door and stepped outside. He looked down the street as people continued to run. There were more now, some carrying their own children who couldn't run fast enough. Naruto looked towards the towards the direction they came from. The fire he saw before had now doubled in size, surrounding what looked the like the biggest, hottest fire in the center. Fames licked at a nearby street, and Naruto decided that was definitely close enough. He yelled and warned Alexios, who came rushing out of the house with Adonia. "Where do we go?" Naruto yelled to Alexios.

"To the gates! That's the only way out!" He said. They now joined the screaming crowd as the fire reached their street, bursting into houses and scorching the plants. They ran faster, and the entrance to the city was now visible, flooded with people trying desperately to escape. Naruto looked back to see the fire and saw a child run and trip, with the fire close behind him. "Hold on! There's a kid!" Screamed Naruto, but Alexios didn't hear him, and neither did Adonia. The fire was growing close to the child as Naruto arrived by his side. Naruto picked him up, and was surprised by how light he was. He ran with the kid back towards the crowd, but he could no longer see Alexios and Adonia. He ran anyway, as fast as he could, putting as much distance as possible between him and the fire.

He reached the city gates, but still couldn't find Alexios and Adonia. A woman was screaming something past the gate. Naruto ran out of the city, towards the wailing woman. She screamed again as she saw the child with Naruto. The child took off running towards the woman, obviously his mother. "My baby! My precious baby! Thank you so much!" The woman yelled with relief at Naruto.

"No problem, miss." Naruto grinned and took off back into the city before the woman could say anything more. The fire was approaching the gates, and was now within a hundred feet of them. Naruto took off running, and launched a large clod of dirt and rocks into the air a few feet in front of him. As he ran and met the clod, he jumped on it and began soaring through the air. He had to check for stragglers. There were too little people outside to equal the population of the city. About fifty more people managed to reach the gates as Naruto looked back. After they were through, they securely locked the gates, attempting to stop the spread. Anyone left inside was going to die. "This can't be happening!" Naruto screamed as he flew through the city. He saw several bodies on the ground, but they had already perished in the smoke an flames. Naruto could smell the acrid smell of the approaching smoke, but something was suspicious. A peculiar smell. And there wasn't too much smoke in the air, mostly massive flames.

Naruto gave up looking for survivors after about fifteen minutes of not finding anything. He turned his attention towards the all-consuming fire. About half way through the city, he saw a wall of fire, taller than anything surrounding it. He urged the pile he was standing on and flew at an incredible speed towards the heart of the fire.

The heat near the center was extremely hot, and the fire was crimson. Naruto floated to a stop and sucked up dirt from the ground below the fire. He gathered more and more, several hundred punds of dirt and dust, floating with him in the air. Then he stirred the dirt around and dropped it into the fire in the surrounding area, immediately suffocating the flames. Underneath all the fire, the earth was scorched black, and houses had collapsed. Naruto sensed movement as the pillar of fire in front of him turned around. It wasn't a pillar it all. It was some_thing_.

"You!" It screamed, raising a fiery arm at Naruto. As the beast bellowed and growled thunder broke the sky again and rain began to fall. The beast hissed as the rain came into contact with it's blazing body. Fires within the city were put out by the newly fallen rain, and they continued to douse the flames. "I am Pyrus," the beast screamed again, "And you are my prey! You will die, young Naruto!"

As the beast said this, it flung a ball of fire towards Naruto. Too slow. Naruto flipped forwards and the dirt clod beneath his feet absorbed the blow. The force of the blast pushed him back a few feet in the air. Naruto brought up more dirt from the ground below, adding to his ship, and leaving fine amounts in the air around him. "You are fast, but I am faster, and I will destroy you!" Pyrus screamed again, launching two more fireballs. Naruto flipped up his pile again, using it as a shield against the first one, which knocked him backwards, sending him spiraling through the air. The second fireball split apart as it hit the wall of fine dirt floating in the air, disappearing uselessly. "I see you came prepared with the power of Gaialor." Pyrus bellowed. Naruto adjusted and regained his balance, floating in the air still.

"Looks like you're out of your element!" Naruto screamed back, as thunder boomed louder in the sky. Rain fell harder, soaking into Naruto's clothes. The flames surrounding the beast seemed to fade slightly as the water absorbed into it. "You may have defeated my two comrades, but you will not defeat me! I will be your end!" Pyrus said, shooting a beam of flames through the air towards Naruto. Naruto wasn't prepared for the blast as it struck him. It singed his clothes and blackened his rocks as he sailed through the air. His rock ship caught the edge of a crumbling building and Naruto was thrown off over the collapsed house. He hit the ground hard, rolling several times, then crashed into some blackened bushes. He gasped for air as it was knocked out of him, then struggled to get to his feet. He gathered rocks and dirt once more, jumping onto it, flying back to Pyrus. "Back for more, fool?" Pyrus said, laughing at him. Anger surged through Naruto. He let it control his powers. The anger fueled his energy, enhancing the existing power. He thought of all the people, now homeless and missing friends and family. That was something he could not stand for. He will not. Naruto screamed and the earth beneath him cracked and crumbled as massive rocks and piles of dirt gathered around him. "You will pay for the destruction of Argos!" Naruto yelled. He felt his face hot from the emotion pouring through his body. Rocks continued to gather around Naruto, creating a circle of levitating weapons. Naruto took the section of dirt beneath him up, launching him into the air. He controlled the rocks and dirt below, beginning to rotate them around the circle. He increased the speed, and soon he had created a fatal vortex beneath him with rocks and dirt circling at up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. He increased the velocity still as the rocks tore through anything nearby, unstoppable. He urged the vortex towards Pyrus who easily saw it coming. He launched several fireballs at it, trying to dissipate the tornado. It didn't work, and the vortex advanced on him. "You think you can defeat me?" Pyrus said. Pyrus suddenly seemed to absorb the surrounding fire around him, gathering it's heat and energy. His flames grew brighter and more intense as he added them to his own power. The vortex hit Pyrus, but he didn't even seem phased. Naruto realized why. As soon as the rocks touched Pyrus they instantly became incinerated, melting away. Naruto also noticed that Pyrus was running out of energy as his fire dimmed, attempting to still cut through the advancing vortex.

"You cannot defeat me! This fight is biased and I will no longer participate. I will fight you in the north, beyond the mountains where I have my own domain." With that Pyrus grew brighter and brighter, lighting the surrounding area. Then it stopped. The light faded and Pyrus was gone. Just vanished into thin air. His vortex had been burnt to a crisp, and Naruto now descended back down to the ground. "Coward." He managed to say. He was still about ten feet off the ground when the entirity of his energy left him. He faded and his floating rock now fell away from him and Naruto spiraled towards the ground below. He hit the ground hard with a solid thud, and instantly everything went black as he physically and mentally collapsed.


	14. Hero of Argos

Naruto felt the soft comfort of a bed beneath him. He had slept for an entire day, and it was nearing sundown again. He didn't remember what happened, or how he got in a bed. The last thing he remembered was… Smoke. It all came flooding back to him, the running, the screaming, the rain, the fire, Pyrus, the thunder, the charred remains of Argos. It was too much for him, and he nearly broke down crying. He couldn't believe that he had brought this here. It was his fault innocent people died, and the city was burned. He could blame no one but himself. He opened his eyes, and saw that his arms were covered with small bandages, and he had been given clean clothes. Someone had also took the time to wash the dirt off of his face and arms. Naruto tried to get out of the bed, stumbling as he went. He looked down at his leg where it seemed to hurt. His knee was purple and bruised badly, probably from the fall the night before. He starightened up, and walked to the small cottage's door. He opened it and a wall of noise crashed into his eardrums. A shout nearby said, "The hero is awake!"

Suddenly, the hundreds of people around the cottage quieted, and Naruto could feel their eyes on him. The crowd burst into a long series of whoops and screams of joy, then a party began. He walked out further to meet the crowd. He a familiar-looking woman and approached her, and her eyes lit up as he drew closer. The crowd began to chat, "All hail Naruto! All hail Naruto!" As Naruto reached the woman. He noticed a small boy by her side and remembered it was the one he saved from the fire last night. "Thank you so much, Naruto! You saved the city, and many of it's people." The woman said happily, congratulating him.

"I really didn't do that much... I still don't understand... What happened to the remaining fires? Weren't they still spreading?" Naruto said, as he looked around at the now scorched buildings, but some of the plants seemed to be alive and blooming.

"You didn't do that much?" The woman scoffed. "About one hundred city folk said they saw you defeat a great fiery beast! You alone defeated it. You saved my child too! I am forever indebted to you. And don't worry about the fires. The ones left after you beat the beast were shortly doused by the heavy rain." She said.

"You owe me nothing." Naruto said. No one in this city owed him anything. It was his own fault the beast came here and destroyed so much, so it was Naruto's responsibility to get rid of it. "What's with those flowers? I thought they all died." Naruto said, pointing at the flowering plants on the side of the road.

"Ah, that is one of the many secrets of Argos. The plants here have flame resistant seeds, and grow relatively fast. The flowers are a large part of this city's morale, so when the city was established, we made the flowers that way so if there ever was a fire, the plants would be quickly replaced. Ash serves as a nice fertilizer too, so when all the plants grow back, they'll be nearly double in size." She said, staring at the beautiful plants.

"Wow, I had no idea..." Naruto was astounded at the plants' resiliency. The crowd grew larger as they moved closer to Naruto. Several children wanted him to run off and play with them, show them some of the tricks he used to defeat Pyrus. Most adults shook his hand, and clapped him on the back, thanking him many times over. "It seems someone else is waiting for you." The woman said, smiling coyly. Naruto looked behind him and saw Adonia running towards him. "Naruto!" She screamed, slamming into his chest and hugging him tightly. "Are you going to be ok?" She asked, letting go of the hug.

"Yeah, it's just a few scrathes and bruises. I'll be alright." Naruto said, smiling at her concern.

"Good." She said, leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips.

"I see you two are getting along nicely." Alexios said as he chuckled loudly and approached them. Adonia's face quickly turned to a flush of bright red. "So how are you feeling, Naruto?" He asked, walking closer to him.

"Good, other than a few scratches. I'm glad to see the city's flowers are regrowing so fast." Naruto said, looking at some of them.

"I see someone let you in on a little secret." Alexios said, smiling.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck and laughed a little. "Yeah." He replied. A sudden realization struck him like a blow to the head. How had he failed to ask? It should have been one of the first things he said. "Is your home alright?" He asked, a worried look now in his eyes.

"My home? Oh, yes, it's fine. A few burn marks on the sides, but they'll wash away with rain in time." Alexios said. Naruto felt the lift of relief on his shoulders. He couldn't have beared it if he had caused Adonia and her father to lose their home.

Naruto had an idea. He had seen most of the stones that were used to build the houses being carried into the city maybe from a mine or something close by. "How many homes were destroyed?" Naruto asked. It wasn't an easy question to ask, but it was important, even if it was touchy.

"I think we lost about six. Not too bad considering the whole city was ablaze. Why?" Alexios asked.

"I was just curious." Naruto said quickly. "I think I'm going back to bed. I'm exhausted." Naruto said, rubbing his eyes to make it seem more realistic.

"Alright, you've done plenty for this city already, a little rest couldn't hurt, now would it?" Alexios said, clapping him on his back.

"Good night, Adonia." Naruto said, looking back at her now. She didn't reply, just swooped in like a hawk and gave him another bear hug. Naruto turned around after she let go and went back to the cottage he awoke in.

Just after he closed and locked the front door, he ran straight for the back window, peering out to see if anyone was watching. There wasn't. He dove out the window, landing on the ground swiftly launched him self upwards in the air with the pile of dirt beneath him, rising so fast that if you blinked, you would have missed him. He rose further still, above the city walls. He floated lazily over them, then descended quickly south of Argos. He saw a small forest, and landed near the entrance.

He had seen a small mine in the center of the forest. As he walked into the shield of trees, the air around him cooled from the absence of the sun. He traveled further into the forest, and heard wolves howling in the distance. Naruto didn't mind the thought of wolves, and their howling reminded him of loneliness. He reached the small mine, and made sure no one was near. Deep down in the mine rocks began to move and shift, making their way to the top as Naruto descended further into it. As Naruto grew closer, the rocks had more guidance, traveling faster and more accurately. Soon, Naruto was at the bottom of the mine. The place stunk of sweat and minerals. It was surprisingly warmer in the mine than outside, and Naruto couldn't imagine the temperature of the mine when there were hot, humid days.

He now focused the entirity of his power on the moving rocks, hundreds leaping from the cave an placing themselves into a neat pile. He did this for an hour or so, then ascended to exit the mine. What had started as a small pile of rocks had now become an expansive mountain of rocks, boulders and dirt. Naruto focused all his power now on the dirt and mud and plants residing on the rocks, beginning to pull itself off. Soon, a cloud of the debris that once covered the rocks were now floating above them, then shifted and set into a second pile. The cleansed rocks were now white, and brightly shining in the moonlight sky.

Half way done, Naruto now separeted the rocks, breaking them into many different sizes. Then he willed the energy to create stone blocks, about six inches by two inches. The rocks meshed together and broke apart to form these perfect blocks. About an hour later, the pile of mismatched rocks had transformed itself into a neatly stacked mass of shiny white bricks. Naruto used the dirt he had pulled from the rocks to levitate to the top of the pile, where he jumped on. He then scattered the debris into the ground, making it look more natural.

The next part was going to be the stood in the center of the brick mass and closed his eyes. He willed the power of earth down through his toes and onto the bricks. He felt a shift in motion as the entire stack of bricks lifted precariously off the ground. He had to worry about every brick having the possiblilty of falling off_ and_ having to keep it in the air high enough. He felt the weight of each and every brick in his mind, feeling it pull and stretch his remaining energy. The stack of bricks rose further, about two feet off the ground now. It rose further still, and the weight was nearly unbearable. Naruto grunted with effort as he focused on anything he could to draw any more energy. Naruto thought about all the people Pyrus had killed with the smoke and flames. And the now homeless people, and the families missing friends and relatives. Naruto converted his grief into more power, feeling slight trickles in his veins. Even though most of the challenge was mental, Naruto hadn't eaten in more than twenty four hours, and the pain and exhuastion was wearing on his muscles.

The stack was now a safe enough distance in the air that Naruto could go straight and end up in the city of Argos, going right over the walls. He had hoped the guards on the wall had slacked off and fallen asleep. He approached the city and saw that most of the torches were put out, signaling that most of them were asleep. He saw guards sitting, leaning against the wall, asleep. They were probably working overtime because of the fire. Naruto quietly traveled over the wall, and headed for the biggest clearing in the town, which was basically in the center of the shops and markets. He descended, feeling relief from the weight, and nearly collapsed on top of the bricks as he landed. The bricks were still in a fairly organized fashion, and were pure enough to build a king's manor.

Naruto lept quietly off of the the stack, heading for the cottage he currently resided within.

He crawled back into the cottage through the back window, struggling to fight his exhaustion. He landed on the floor hard, making a loud thud. He quickly slipped off his shoes, removed his shirt, then climbed into the comfortable warmth of the bed. Naruto's breathing had just barely returned to a regular pace when he was fast asleep.


End file.
